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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Lepidodendron - The scale tree was prolific during the Carboniferous Period (360 to 286 million years ago).
Lepidodendron Reconstruction - Drawing of a club-moss tree from the carboniferous and links to photographs of its fossils.
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