Phylum: Rhyniophyta
Species: Cooksonia Caledonica
- 2 inches to 3 inches tall
- Silurian geological period
- Compression fossil
- Found in Great Britain
- Tracheids and spores
- Equal dichotomy
- Sporangium at tip of each stem
Rhyniophyta
Phylum
Silurian geological period
Oldest period of vascular, extinct land plants
Compression fossil
Fossil containing actual remains of an organism
How can you tell that it is a sporophyte and not a gametophyte?
It has spores and vascular tissue
Compression fossil in Boyden Hall Entrance
Fish
Phylum: Rhyniophyta
Species: Horneophyton Lignieri
- 6 inches to 12 inches tall
- Comes from rhynie chert in Scotland
- Petrification fossil
- Equal dichotomous forking
Species name: Horneophyton Lignieri
Genus name: Horneophyton
Specific epithet: Lignieiri
Phylum: Rhyniophyta
Genus: Rhynia
Species: Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughnaii
- 1 foot tall
- Petrified in rhynie chert
- Has stomatal apparatus
- has tracheid cells, sieve cells and parenchyma cells
Stomatal apparatus
Consists of 2 guard cells and 1 stoma
Tracheid cells
Elongated, thick-walled conducting and supporting cells of xylem
Phylum: Rhyniophtya
Genus: Renalia
Species: Renalia Hueberi
- 10 inches tall
- unequal and equal dichotomy
- compression fossil (you can tell by coalified sporangia that is preserved)
- single sporangia at the tips of the stems
Phylum: Zosterophyllophyta
Genus: Zosterophyllum
Species: Zosterophyllum Myretonianum
- 1 foot tall
- Devonian geological period
- Found in Great Britain
- Compression fossil
- Lateral sporangia (on side of stem)
- Smooth stem
- No surface ornamentation (i.e. no enations)
Phylum: Zosterophyllophyta
Genus: Sawdonia
Species: Sawdonia Ornata
- 1 feet to 3 feet fall
- compression fossil
- lateral sporangia (short stalk, have annulus, smooth –> no enations)
- narrow stem
- long spine-like enations on stem
- thick walled cells in stem provide mechanical support
Phylum: Zosterophyllophyta
Genus: Sawdonia
Species: Sawdonia acanthotheca
- 2 feet to 3 feet tall
- compression fossil
- lateral sporangia have enations
- broad stem
- short spine-like enations on stem
What is the advantage of enations?
They increase surface area for photosynthesis
Phylum: Trimerophytophyta
Genus: Psilophyton
Species: Psilophyton Princeps
- Compression fossil
- Stem has vertical ribbing (individual vascular bundles)
- Blunt, peg-like enations on stem
- Paired, hanging sporangia on tips of the side stems
1 vertical rod in a stem = _________
Xylem
Multiple vertical rods in a stem = _________
Individual vascular bundles
Phylum: Trimerophytophyta
Genus: Psilophyton
Species: Psilophyton Forbesii
- Compression fossil
- Stem has vertical ribbing
- No enations on stem
- Sporangia are paired, fusiform, and in clusters on the side stems
Phylum: Trimerophytophyta
Genus: Pertica
Species: Pertica Quadriferia
- 5 feet tall
- wide stem
- equal dichotomous forking
- many sporangia
- apical clusters of sporangia
Phylum: Trimerophytophyta
Genus: Pertica
Species: Pertica Veria
- 4 feet to 5 feet tall
- unequal dichotomy in side stem
- massive amount of sporangia
Phylum: Trimerophytophyta
Genus: Psilophyton
Species: Psilophyton Dawsonii
- Petrified fossil
- Clusters of sporangia on side stems