Description

Brachyphyllum crucis
Gymnosperm
Early Jurassic
Lower Lias
Somerset, England

53mm branch on 89mm slab from the famous Jurassic Coast.

Brachyphyllum is a form genus of certain branches of a cone-bearing tree.  Form genera are erected in the case when one part of a tree is known (a leaf, a fruit, etc.) but not the others.  While it has been named, Brachyphyllum has not been the subject of many studies so its assignment to a particular family has been debatable especially since some of its species have been attributed to one while others have been attributed to another.  This plant is not known to have survived into the Cenozoic Era.