What phylum is Lepidodendron?
Lepidodendron is an extinct genus of primitive vascular plants belonging to the family Lepidodendraceae, part of a group of Lycopodiopsida known as scale trees or arborescent lycophytes, related to quillworts and lycopsids (club mosses). They were part of the coal forest flora.
What is the scientific name of Lepidodendron?
Lepidodendron is an extinct genus of primitive vascular plants belonging to the family Lepidodendraceae, part of a group of Lycopodiopsida known as scale trees or arborescent lycophytes, related to quillworts and lycopsids (club mosses). They were part of the coal forest flora.
What is the common name of Lepidodendron?
Lepidodendron, also known as “scale tree”, is an extinct prehistoric tree which was one of the most abundant trees of the Carboniferous period. It lived in some of the wettest parts of the prehistoric coal swamps and commonly grew in dense stands.
Are Lepidodendron angiosperms?
Lepidodendron was a lycopod, not an angiosperm - like an oak tree nor a gymnosperm - like a conifer tree. (See Fig. 2).
Is Lepidodendron heterosporous?
Lepidodendron possessed leaf ligules and was heterosporous. It and other close relatives were woody, via the development of a vascular cambium (but one that was “unifacial,” producing only cells in one direction; see Chapter 5).
Is Lepidodendron a lycopod?
Lepidodendron is an extinct lycopod tree that lived in the great coal-age forests before the time of the dinosaurs. The were unlike any tree that lives today, in that they did not have a heavy woody trunk.
What is a lycopod tree?
The name of a common lycopod, Lepidodendron, means "scale tree." Roots of lycopod trees look much alike and are assigned the form genus name, Stigmaria. In Ohio, fossil remains of lycopods are found in rocks that span Late Devonian through Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) time.
What are lycophytes used for?
Lycophytes are the oldest extant group of vascular plants, and dominated major habitats for 40 million years. The club mosses (Lycopodiales) are usually evergreen, and have been used as Christmas decorations, though their flammable spores and increasing rarity has made this illegal in some states.
What is unique about lycophytes?
Lycophytes have unique leaves that separate them from all other plant groups. Their leaves, known as microphylls, have only one vein that runs down the length of the leaf. All lycophyte plants are herbaceous so no species grow wood. The above ground portion of lycophytes is almost entirely green, including the stems.Oct 7, 2015
What makes lycophytes significant in plant evolution?
As such, lycophytes are well placed to elucidate innovations in the ancestors of vascular plants, and answer evolutionary questions about the conservation, convergence, and divergence of developmental processes in plant diversification.Sep 9, 2020
What do lycophytes produce?
Like ferns and other seedless vascular plants, lycophytes produce gametophyte plants which develop independently of their parent sporophyte. In the club mosses, the gametophyte is usually quite small, and may even develop underground. It relies on a mycorrhizal fungus to help provide nutrients and water.