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Protolepidodendrales

The Protolepidodendrales were a group of small, herbaceous plants that were widely distributed during the lower Devonian and lower Carboniferous periods. They reproduced via homosporous sporangia on specialized leaves. Two examples were Protolepidodendron, which had dichotomously branching stems up to 30 cm high covered in cushion-like leaves, some bearing sporangia, and Drepanophycus, a lycopodium-like plant up to 45 cm tall with spiny leaf-like outgrowths occasionally bearing sporangia. Both had branching stems with actinostelic vascular bundles and annular or spiral tracheids.

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302 views2 pages

Protolepidodendrales

The Protolepidodendrales were a group of small, herbaceous plants that were widely distributed during the lower Devonian and lower Carboniferous periods. They reproduced via homosporous sporangia on specialized leaves. Two examples were Protolepidodendron, which had dichotomously branching stems up to 30 cm high covered in cushion-like leaves, some bearing sporangia, and Drepanophycus, a lycopodium-like plant up to 45 cm tall with spiny leaf-like outgrowths occasionally bearing sporangia. Both had branching stems with actinostelic vascular bundles and annular or spiral tracheids.

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Shaina
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Protolepidodendrales

o The protolepidodendrales are a group of mostly small plants that had an


apparently world-wide distribution during the lower Devonian and lower
Carboniferous periods.
o They were homosporous plants which were herbaceous and had dichotomous axis.
The roots of these plants have not been described.
o The sporophytic plant body was mostly of small size. Protolepidodendron
attained a height of about 20-30 cm while Drepanophycus reached as high as 45
cm.
o The sporophyte consisted of a branched prostrate rhizome like portion having
an erect well-branched system.
o The oldest fossils belong to Protolepidodendrales can be assigned with
certainity are:- Baragwanathia longifolia from Silurian of Australia occurring
along with Yarravia.
o The plant body resembles the present day Lycopodium but exceeded them in
size.
o Stem of the plant was covered with leaves which were eligulate, vascularised and
arranged in spirals or pseudowhorls. The stem had a protostele( seems to be
actinostelic with annular tracheides) with lobed xylem.
o Reniform sporangia (about 2mm in diameter) are present in certain areas of the
stem in axillary position of leaves intermixed with vegetative leaves.

Protolepidodendron:-
o The type genus of this order had dichotomously branched prostrate axis
from which arose aerial branches upto 30 cm high and less than 1 cm in
diameter.
o All parts of the plant covered with leaves having cushion-like bases and
bifurcated apices.
o These leaves had a single vascular strand and some of them bore oval,
radially elongated sporangia on their adaxial surfaces and were called
sporophylls.
o On the forked sporophylls were seen short-stalked sporangia. This forms
new genus i.e. Estinophyton.
o The stem from which the leaves had fallen showed a characteristic
pattern of leaf bases arranged in a spiral manner.
o The stem had a triangular protostele which is not typically Lycopodiaceae
type.
Drepanophycus (extinct terrestrial vascular plant):-

o It was a Lycopodium like plant having prostrate and erect axis.


o It attained a height of upto 45 cm.
o The aerial axis were clothed with stout, spine like outgrowths (up to 2 cm
long) similar to Psilophyton that had vascular strand. The aerial axis was
forked occasionally in dichotomous manner.
o These spiny outgrowths had a vascular strand could be designated as
leaves.
o Some of the leaves on their upper surface wore single sporangia.
o These sporangia were borne in the middle of leaves, but specimens
collected from Wales occasionally show sporangia on or near the tip.
o These sporophylls were not aggregated but scattered at random over the
axis instead of being gathered together into fertile zone.
o Stem is dichotomised and vascular bundles are actinostelic, tracheids are
of primitive annular or spiral type.

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