A fossil plant assemblage from the basal Blaine Formation (Leonardian, Lower Permian) of Knox County, Texas, is one of the youngest Paleozoic floras known in North America. It is dominated by coniferous parts (e.g. Ullmannia- and Podozamites-like shoots and a few undetermined cones), abundant detached seeds -- some bearing paired wing-like appendages -- and many isolated Voltzia- or Svedenborgia-like cone scale complexes. "Typical" Paleozoic pteridophylls (callipterids, gigantopterids, etc.) are strangely absent; the only plants reminiscent of Paleozoic floras are Taeniopteris, samaropsid seeds, and the enigmatic Wattia. Primary interest lies in 30-odd specimens of Dioonitocarpidium (Lilienstern, 1928), a cycadean megasporophyll previously known only from Keuper (Upper Triassic) beds of Bavaria. These are long, pinnatifid appendages with a short, broad stalk and a narrow lamina, which is deeply incised into narrow basal segments that progressively shorten and usually merge into an entire distal margin and apiculate tip. The largest specimens are about 7.0 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Two seeds are attached to separate sporophyll stalks, and most sporophylls retain a dense indument of short hairs. Excepting minor quantitative differences, the Texas sporophylls are morphologically identical with Krausel's (1943) illustrations of Dioonitocarpidium keuperianum (Krasser) Krausel. Thus they contribute to cycadalean history and enhance the "precocious" overall Triassic flavor of this Early Permian flora.

Key words: conifer, cycad, Paleozoic, Permian