Lepidodendron (also known as the "Scale tree") is an extinct genus of primitive, vascular, arborescent (tree-like) plant related to the Lycopsids (club mosses). They are sometimes called Giant club mosses. They sometimes reached heights of over 30 m, and the trunks were often over 1 m in diameter. They thrived during the Carboniferous period.

Lepidodendron had tall, thick trunks that rarely branched and were topped with a crown of bifurcating branches bearing clusters of narrow leaves. These leaves were long and narrow, similar to large blades of grass. They were spirally-arranged.

The closely packed diamond-shaped leaf scars left on the trunk and stems as the plant grew provide some of the most interesting and common fossils in Carboniferous shales and accompanying coal deposits. These fossils look much like tire tracks or alligator skin.

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@Suw dig anywhere in my garden (top of a big hill 950') & u get lots of lepidodendron fossils embedded in very brittle & twisted rock ...
Schroedinger99 (Mike Ward) Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:07:05 -0000
@Suw dig anywhere in my garden (top of a big hill 950') & u get lots of lepidodendron fossils embedded in very brittle & twisted rock ...

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