''Phlebopteris'' is an extinct genus of

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 ...

fern belonging to the family Matoniaceae, it is diagnosed by " pinna exhibiting short or long

pinnules A leaflet (occasionally called foliole) in botany is a leaf-like part of a compound leaf. Though it resembles an entire leaf, a leaflet is not borne on a main plant stem or branch, as a leaf is, but rather on a petiole or a branch of the leaf. Co ...

with decurrent or non-decurrent base;

midrib This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

often reaching the apex; secondary veins dichotomously branched, with or without forming a reticulate venation; circular sori lacking

indusium A sorus (pl. sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) in ferns and fungi. A coenosorus (plural coenosori) is a compound sorus composed of multiple, fused sori. Etymology This New Latin word is from Ancient ...

; sori with five to six annulate sporangia annulus; trilete, subtriangular, tetrahedral or round spores." The oldest fossil of the genus is known from the Ladinian of Italy. The genus was almost globally distributed during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

, with a concentration of species in the northern hemisphere. It probably preferred moist habitats.

References

Gleicheniales Prehistoric plant genera Triassic plants Jurassic plants Cretaceous plants Fossil taxa described in 1835 {{cretaceous-plant-stub