Aphlebiae are the imperfect or irregular leaf endings commonly found on

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s and fossils of ferns from the

Carboniferous Period The Carboniferous ( ) is a Period (geology), geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago (Myr, Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, ...

, but seem to have disappeared by the beginning of the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

. According to the United States Geological Survey in 1983, “The discovery in recent years of Aplebiæ attached to the rachis of many species of ''Pecopteris'' and ''Sphenopteris'', such as ''P. dentata'', ''P. Biotii, P. abbrebiata, and Sphenopteris cremate'' strengthens the view now generally entertained, that most of the species of Aphlebia are stipal abortive pinnæ growing from the bases of primary or secondary rachises” (101). The word itself is derived from the Greek "phleb-", meaning vein, and "a-", meaning without.

References

Leaves Paleozoic life of New Brunswick {{botany-stub