The Emplectopteridaceae were
pteridosperms
The term Pteridospermatophyta (or "seed ferns" or "Pteridospermatopsida") is a polyphyletic group of extinct seed-bearing plants (spermatophytes). The earliest fossil evidence for plants of this type is the genus ''Elkinsia'' of the late Devonian ...
known mainly from
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
floras of the
Cathaysian Realm. They were mostly shrubby plants with a scrambling or upright habit, and favoured a range of habitats from arid to moist or even aquatic.
[Wang Ziqiang. 1999. ''Gigantonoclea'': an enigmatic Permian plant from north China. ''Palaeontology,'' 42, 329-373.] The foliage is the most abundant known remains of this family, having been reported from
Artinskian
In the geologic timescale, the Artinskian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is a subdivision of the Cisuralian Epoch or Series. The Artinskian likely lasted between and million years ago (Ma) according to the most recent revision of th ...
to
Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian (from in the Liangshan area of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province) is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. Th ...
macrofloras of both north and south
China.
[Shen Guanlong. 1995, Permian floras. ''In'' Li Xingxue, Zhou Zhiyan, Cai Chongyang, Sun Ge, Ouyang Shu & Deng Longhua (eds) ''Fossil floras of China through the geological ages.'' Guandong Science and Technology Press, Guandong, pp. 127-223.][Glasspool, I. J., Hilton, J., Collinson, M. E., Wang Shijun & Li Chengsen. 2004. Foliar physiognomy in Cathaysian gigantopterids and the potential to track Palaeozoic climates using an extinct plant group. ''Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology,'' 205, 69-110.] The
venation
Venation may refer to:
* Venation (botany), the arrangement of veins in leaves
* Wing venation, the arrangement of veins in insect wings
See also
*
* Vernation
Vernation (from ''vernal'' meaning ''spring'', since that is when leaves spring fort ...
is characteristically