Description

Lepidodendropsis sp.
Devonian
Lepidodendropsis Flora
Donbass, Urals, Ukraine.

23mm x 14mm lycopsid stem.  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 during the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous).

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.