FOSSIL PLANTS

RESEARCH AND PRESENTED BY:

JOSHITA SAINI

CONTENTS
S.No

Title

Slide No.

1.

What Are Fossils

2.

Types Of Fossils

3.

Geological Time Scale

4.

What Are Pteridophytes?

5.

Fossil Pteridophytes

6.

What Are Gymnosperms?

21

7.

Fossil Gymnosperms

22

8.

References

WHAT ARE FOSSILS?

Fossils derived from Latin word fossus, means literally
having been dug up.
Are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and
other organisms from the remote past.
Totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and
their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock
formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the
fossil record.
Palaeobotany is the study of plant fossils preserved in
rocks.
The word Fossil has been defined as any evidence of
prehistoric life.

TYPES OF FOSSILS
Petrifaction Formed because of the slow infiltration of tissues by some
minerals like calcium, silica or magnesium.
Organic matter is replaced by mineral matter. Almost all the details of
even cell walls are visible under the microscope.
Compressions or mummification Parts of the organism are flattened by
the vertical pressure of the overlying rocks. Outlines of epidermal cells,
hair, stomata, etc can be studied by these fossils.
No internal cellular details are preserved.
Impressions Material of the plant disorganizes but the impression
remains. Formed because of the burial of the parts of the plant in the soil,
later on harden into rock. Only external features of the plant are preserved.
Casts or molds formed when an organism, submerged in water
containing lime, remains covered by a crust of mineral matter. Decay of
such incrusted organisms leaves a cast or mold.
Casts exhibit nothing of the original tissues of the organisms.

GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE

WHAT ARE PTERIDOPHYTES?

FOSSIL PTERIDOPHYTES
Division Psilophytopsida (e.g. Rhynia,
Horneophyton, Zosterophyllum)
Lepidodendrales of Lycopsida
Hyeniales (e.g. Hyenia), Sphenophyllales (e.g.
Sphenophyllum) of Sphenopsida
Cladoxylales of Pteropsida

RHYNIA

Discovered from the middle devonian rocks of Rhynie in Scotland (about 380 million
years ago)
Represented by two species R. major & R. gwynne-vaughani.
Plant body sporophytic, sporophytes of R. major were larger than R. gwynnevaughani.
Plants had dichotomously branched rhizome. From the rhizome, developed many
dichotomously branched erect aerial shoots towards the upper side and many rhizoids
towards the lower side.
Roots were absent.
Shoots were photosynthetic in nature and had stomata all over.
Reproductive Structures sporangia present at the tips of some aerial shoots.
Oval to cylindrical in shape with distal pointed end and a broad basal end.
Sporangia of R. major were larger than that of R. gwynne-vaughani.
Large no. of spores present inside, homosporous, arranged in tetrads.

ANATOMY OF AERIAL SHOOT

Differentiated into epidermis, cortex and stele.

Outermost layer- epidermis covered by heavy cuticle. The continuity of epidermis was broken by many
stomata.
Inside the epidermis was a well-developed region of cortex. It was differentiated into inner and outer cortex.
The outer cortex or hypodermis was 1-4 cells thick and without any intercellular spaces. The inner cortex was
made up of many spherical cells having large intercellular spaces. Inner cortex had a direct connection with
the stomata through these intercellular spaces.
Endodermis and pericycle layer absent. Stele was simple protostele.

T.S aerial shoot Rhynia

HORNEOPHYTON

Horneophyton lignieri, similar to Rhynia.

Smaller, more slender, more freely branched stems.
Aerial parts were without any appendages.
Underground portions had short-lobed tuberous corn-like structures.
Stele was protostelic.
Presence of large no. non-septate fungal hyphae in many tubers
Sporangia were terminal, sessile, present on the tips of stem & no
uniformity in shape.
Sporangia were surrounded by thick wall and had a sterile columella.
In bifid sporangium, colimella was also bifid.
Spores were present in tetrads.

YARRAVIA

Yarravia was a generic name given to the reproductive bodies.

belongs to Silurian period & discovered in Australia.
Naked axes terminated into large synangia.
Each synangium consisted of many elongated sporangia
No spores were identified within sporangia.

COOKSONIA
Belongs to late Silurian age & discovered in Great Britain.
Some workers give the generic name Cooksonia to the
reproductive bodies of Yarravia.
Naked dichotomously branched axes
Rhynia like sporangia borne singly at the tips of the branches.
Many spore tetrads present within each sporangium.

ZOSTEROPHYLLUM
Well-known vascular plants from Silurian age.
Represented by only 3 species- Z. myretonianum, Z. australianum, & Z.
rhenanum.
Species described from Old Red Sandstone of Scotland.
Plant body consisted of a dichotomously branched vegetative system
bearing many fertile branches.
Fertile branches terminated into sporangia-bearing spike like structures.
Z. rhenanum was described from the Lower Devonian in Germany.
Partially submerged species of Zosterophyllum.

LEPIDODENDRALES
Extinct order of Lycopsida.
Plants originated during the Upper Devonian period and
extinct by the end of the Permian period.
Plants were big trees e.g. Lepidodendron
Lepidodendron- highly branched genus, branching was
dichotomous and ultimate branches bore small leaves.
On the lower side, the trunk was anchored by four main
horizontal radiating arm like axes. Several spirally
arranged lateral appendages were present on the
subdivisions of these branches. These are called
stigmarian appendages or stigmarian roots.
Lepidodendrales were possibly heterosporous plants.

HYENIA ELEGANS
Discovered from the Middle Devonian rocks.
Had stout horizontal rhizome bearing sterile and fertile erect branches
Sterile branches bore forked appendages on their nodes, which functioned
as leaves.
Fertile branches bore whorls of sporangiophores.
Two segments of each fertile whorl were reflexed and each of them bore
two sporangia.

SPHENOPHYLLUM

Appeared in Upper Devonian and became extinct in the Triassic period.

Central axis of the aerial shoots was slender, irregularly branched.
Stems were delicate and divisible into nodes and internodes.
Leaves present on the nodes, arranged in whorls, in multiples of 3.
6-18 leaves were present at each node.
Entire as well as dichotomously divided leaves were also present on the
same shoot in some species, showing heterophyllous nature.

INTERNAL ORGANIZATION OF STEM

Stem had triangular mass of primary xylem in the centre.
Stele was actinostelic and the exarch protoxylem was present at
the angles of the actinostele.
Cortex consisted of peripheral region of thick walled cells and
an inner region of thin walled cells.
Secondary growth by means of cambium was seen in the stems.
Outside the primary xylem developed a ring of cambium.
Pitted trachieds and xylem parenchyma were present in the
secondary wood.
Periderm developed in the inner portion of the cortex after the
start of cambial activity.

CALAMITALES
Members of this fossil order appeared in Upper Devonian and
became extinct in early Triassic period.
Plant body was sporophytic, sporophytes were very large and
tree-like.
Stems and branches showed considerable secondary growth.
Whorls of sporangiophore, usually alternating with the sterile
bracts, were present in strobili.

CLADOXYLON
Plants from Middle Devonian
Thick stem, branched irregularly.
Some of the branches had fan shaped, deeply divided leaves showing a
series of dichotomies.
Sporangium present at the tip of each dichotomously diving branch of son
fan shaped leaves.
Highly comp
lex type of polystelic vascular system.

COENOPTERIDALES
Occurred in the rocks of Upper Devonian, carboniferous and
Permian era.
Fossil group of fascinating fern-like plants.
Showed wide range of growth habits, some had creeping stems
(Botryopteris cylindrica), had erct trunks (Zygopteris primaria).
Lack of clear cut differentiation between the leaves and stem in most
of the members.
Plants had large frond like spirally arranged appendages. Fronds
were 3D in their branching pattern.
Vascular system of stem was usually protostelic.
Sporangia were generally large, oval, pedicellate and attached
terminally on the fertile branches.
All members were homosporous, except Stauropteris burntislandica.

WHAT ARE GYMNOSPERMS?

Fossil gymnosperms

Archaeopteris
Lyginopteris oldhamia
Glossopteris
Williamsonia
Pentoxylon

ARCHAEOPTERIS

Reported from the rocks of the upper Devonian period of North America, Russia.
Had large fern like fronds.
Ferns were bipinnately branched had all the pinnae developed in one plane
Each pinnule had a single vascular bundle, which soon became dichotomously
branched .
The fertile fronds had sporangia .
The sporangia replaced the pinnules of some of the lower pinnae in the fertile fronds.
Most of the species appeared to be homosporous.
A. latifolia was heterosporous and possessed both microspores and mega spores on
the same plant.
It possessed two kinds of sporangia .
Megasporangia possessed about 16 spores and microsporangia about 100 or more
spores.

Lyginopteris Oldhamia
Plants are vine-like with large fronds.
The stem was erect, branched, 2mmto4mm in diameter.
The leaves were bi-or tripinnately compound and arranged
spirally on the stem.
The pinnae were borne at right angles to rachis and were
arranged opposite to each other.
The pinnae bore pinnules.

T.S STEM
Lyginopteris Oldhamia

T.S OF STEM
Next to Epidermis is the outer cortex which consists of
radially broadened fibrous strands that form a vertical
network.
The inner cortex consists of ordinary parenchymatous
cells. Next to the cortex is the pericycle which consists
of sclerotic cells called sclerotic nests.
Next to the pericycle are five strands of primary
vascular bundles. These are separated by
parenchymatous areas. Each vascular bundle is mesarch
and consists of primary phloem towards the outer side.
In the centre there is a large pith made up of
parenchymatous cells.

MALE FRUCTIFICATION:
CROSSOTHECA
is generally regarded as the male fructification
In Crossotheca, a number of boot shaped bilocular microsporangia
were arranged radially on the underside of discs.
Microsporangia were borne as elongate, pendant appendages on
the ultimate pinnule of the frond. The fertile fronds resemble minute
hairbrushes.
The sporangia lack annulus and resembles those of Cycas. On
dehiscence, the microspores were carried by wind. The microspores
are spherical with the tri-radiate markings (trilete).

L.S OVULE OF THE

LYGINOPTERIS OLDHAMIA

FEMALE FRUCTIFICATION
(LAGENOSTOMA OLDHAMIA)
discovered form Upper carboniferous (Lagenostoma oldhamia)
The ovules are barrel shaped with single stout integument. The
ovules are covered with protective covering called the cupule.
These cupules bear capitate glands. The ovule is Orthotropous
and consists of well-developed nucellus .The nucellus apex has a
hollow pollen chamber (Lagenostome).
The pollen chamber in this ovule is conical in shape and has a
central core of tissue, shaped like inverted bell. This is known as
the central column of the pollen chamber.
The pollen chamber is formed as a result of formation of flask
shaped prolongation from the nucellar tip. The central column
arises from the base of the flask shaped pollen chamber.