A neotype for Drepanophycus spinaeformis Goppert 1852

The species Drepanophycus spinaeformis Goppert 1852 was described as a fossil plant closely allied with the fucoid algae. Many years later the type, a single figured specimen, was lost along with its associated collection. Subsequent studies described and assigned additional fossils to the species and redefined it as a land plant, a lycopsid. Through all of the descriptions and assignments of specimens to the species, no single specimen was designated as the type to bear the name in the absence of a holotype. The purpose of this paper is to designate a specimen as the neotype, the bearer of the name, and to emend the taxonomic description of the species.