Sawdoniales

taxobox


image_caption = "Sawdonia ornata" with ground creeping roots (A); lateral reniform sporangia (B)

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image2_caption = "Sawdonia ornata"
fossil_range = Upper Silurian - Lower Carboniferous
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Lycopodiophyta
classis= Zosterophyllopsida
ordo= Sawdoniales †
ordo_authority =
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision=
*Barinophytaceae
*Gosslingiaceae
*Hsuaceae
*SawdoniaceaeThe Sawdoniales were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record. They are zosterophylls, descending from the same ancestors that modern lycophytes evolved from. They bore lateral, reniform sporangia, branched dichotomously, and grew at the ends by unrolling (circinate vernation). Some had smooth stems, others were covered in small spines; fungal bodies have been reported in some spines. [cite journal|author=Rayner, R.J.|year=1983|title=New observations on "Sawdonia ornata" from Scotland |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|volume=74|pages=79–93]

External links

*cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/plants/lycophyta/zostero.html|title=Introduction to the Zosterophylls

References