Description

Lepidodendropsis sp.

Devonian

Lepidodendropsis Flora

Donbass, Urals, Ukraine.

28mm lycopsid stem on 59mm slab with other stems. Rare.

Lepidodendropsis is a genus belonging to a group of primitive land pants (lycopsids) that formed the first forests as life invaded the tropical lowlands during the Devonian Period.  It appeared during the Devonian and became extinct at the end of the Pennsylvanian.  In its time, however, it was a very significant element of the world biota prompting a paleontologist to propose the “Lepidodendropsis Flora” to characterize the quite similar plant communities of several regions.  Remains of this tree are found on all the continents except Antarctica though the continents were quite different during the Devonian to Pennsylvanian – a time before they drifted into each other and formed the supercontinent, Pangaea.