Lycopod
phylum of plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Lycopods (Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta) are the oldest surviving vascular plant division. This is a subdivision of the plant kingdom. Its earliest fossils are from 428–410 million years ago.[3][4]p99
The Lycopods include some of the most primitive (basal) living species. They reproduce by shedding spores and have macroscopic alternation of generations.[5] Members of Lycopodiophyta have a protostele,[6] and the sporophyte generation is dominant.[7][8]
Lycopods differ from all other vascular plants in having microphylls, leaves that have only a single vein rather than the much more complex megaphylls found in ferns and seed plants.
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The first coalfields
The lycopods, or club mosses, are the main plants in the Carboniferous rain forests. They were only partly eaten by insects and other life-forms. Mostly they formed swamplands which in the course of time became coal measures. In fact most of the coal from the Carboniferous period comes from these swamplands.[9]
Classification
There are around 1,200 living species of Lycopodiophyta; they are generally divided into three orders.[10] There are also some extinct groups. There are different opinions as to how the whole group should be classified.[11][12]p8 Living groups are:
- Lycopodiales: Clubmosses
- Isoetales: Quillworts
- Selaginellales: Spikemosses
References
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