Lepidodendron and Sigillaria definition of Lepidodendron and Sigillaria in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Lepidodendron (lĕp'ĭdōdĕn`drən) and Sigillaria (sĭjĭlâr`ēə), two principal genera of an extinct group of primitive vascular trees. They dominated the forests of the early Carboniferous period Carboniferous period (kärbənĭf`ərəs)
..... Click the link for more information. until the ferns gained ascendancy. Related to the club mosses club moss, name generally used for the living species of the class Lycopodiopsida, a primitive subdivision of vascular plants. The Lycopodiopsida were a dominant plant group in the Carboniferous period, when they attained the size of trees, and contributed to the
..... Click the link for more information. , they are sometimes called giant club mosses. The spore-bearing leaves formed cones. The tall, thick trunks, rarely branching, were crowned with a cluster of narrow leaves. The closely packed leaf scars left on the stems as the plants grew provide some of the most interesting and common fossils in shales and accompanying coal deposits. In Lepidodendron the leaf scars are diamond-shaped, and in Sigillaria they are arranged in vertical rows. The rhizomes, or root systems, of both genera, known as stigmaria, were thought to be distinct plants when their fossils were first discovered. Actually they served to support the trees and to produce new shoots. Lepidodendron and Sigillaria are classified in the division Lycopodiophyta Lycopodiophyta (lī'kōpō'dēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , order Lepidodendrales.