Spore Plants
14th May 2009

The first great age of plants, the Palaeophytic (Ordovician to Permian) saw the initial development of land floras and a dominance of spore plants such as clubmosses, horsetails and ferns.

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Aglaophyton major, 11 mm branching stem. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
Aglaophyton major, 11 mm branching stem. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
 Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
 Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland.
 Aglaophyton major, detail of spores in sporangium.
Aglaophyton major, detail of spores in sporangium.
30 cm Stimaria, clubmoss root with rootlets. Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire.
30 cm Stimaria, clubmoss root with rootlets. Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire.
 Lepidodendron loricatum, each leaf cushion measuring 30 mm, bark of a clubmoss from Pella, Iowa, USA.
Lepidodendron loricatum, each leaf cushion measuring 30 mm, bark of a clubmoss from Pella, Iowa, USA.
 Cluster of Cyperites sp leaves, 125 mm, at a Lepidodendron clubmoss branch tip. Mazon Creek.
Cluster of Cyperites sp leaves, 125 mm, at a Lepidodendron clubmoss branch tip. Mazon Creek.
 Lycopsid clubmoss cone, 15 cm in concretion, part and counterpart. Langsettian, Upper Carboniferous. Roof Shales above Wigan 4 Foot Coal Seam, Crock Hey Open Cast, Wigan, Lancashire, England. Found August 30/2004.
Lycopsid clubmoss cone, 15 cm in concretion, part and counterpart. Langsettian, Upper Carboniferous. Roof Shales above Wigan 4 Foot Coal Seam, Crock Hey Open Cast, Wigan, Lancashire, England. Found August 30/2004.
Calamites suckowii, 26 cm, Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire.
Calamites suckowii, 26 cm, Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire.
 Large Annularia radiata, 50 mm. Mazon Creek.
Large Annularia radiata, 50 mm. Mazon Creek.
 Asterophyllites equisetiformis, 120 mm tall foliage element of a horsetail, Carbondale Formation, Braidwood, Illinois, USA.
Asterophyllites equisetiformis, 120 mm tall foliage element of a horsetail, Carbondale Formation, Braidwood, Illinois, USA.
 Cone of a horsetail, 60 mm long Calamostachys ramosa, part and counterpart. Langsettian. Westhoughton, Lancashire.
Cone of a horsetail, 60 mm long Calamostachys ramosa, part and counterpart. Langsettian. Westhoughton, Lancashire.
108 mm leaf scar from the stem of a tree fern, megaphyton, Mazon Creek.
108 mm leaf scar from the stem of a tree fern, megaphyton, Mazon Creek.
 Lobatopteris miltoni (Artis) Wagner, 1958, frond, 225 mm long, Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.
Lobatopteris miltoni (Artis) Wagner, 1958, frond, 225 mm long, Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.
 Detail of Lobatopteris miltoni.
Detail of Lobatopteris miltoni.
 Fertile Pecopteris pinnule, width 19 mm. Each white spot is a cluster of sporangia (spore cases), known as a synangium. Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.
Fertile Pecopteris pinnule, width 19 mm. Each white spot is a cluster of sporangia (spore cases), known as a synangium. Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.
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