''Sigillaria'' is a genus of extinct, spore-bearing, arborescent (tree-like) plants. It was a

lycopodiophyte The lycophytes, when broadly Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed, are a vascular plant (tracheophyte) subgroup of the kingdom Plantae. They are sometimes placed in a division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta or in a subdivision Lycopodiophytina ...

, and is related to the

lycopsid Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...

s, or club-mosses, but even more closely to quillworts, as was its associate '' Lepidodendron''.

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from as early as the Middle Devonian or the Late

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

period Hans' Paleobotany Pages - The clubmoss tree Sigillaria
/ref> but dwindled to extinction in the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

period (age range: from 383.7 to 254.0 million years ago).Encyclopædia Britannica
/ref> Fossils are found in Great Britain, United States, Canada, China, Korea, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Species

Species within this genus include: *''S.alveolaris'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.barbata'' Weiss (1887) *''S.bicostata'' Weiss (1887) *''S.boblayi'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.brardii'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.cancriformis'' Weiss (1887) *''S.cristata'' Sauveur (1848) *''S.cumulata'' Weiss (1887) *''S.davreuxii'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.densifolia'' Brongniart (1836) *''S.elegans'' Sternberg (1825) *''S.elongata'' Brongniart (1824) *''S.fossorum'' Weiss (1887) *''S.hexagona'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.loricata'' Weiss (1887) *''S.mammiliaris'' Brongniart (1824) *''S.menardi'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.micaudi'' (Zeller (1886-1888) *''S.monostigma'' Lesquereux (1866) *''S.orbicularis'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.ovata'' Sauveur (1848) *''S.pachyderma'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.principes'' Weiss (1881) *''S.reticulata'' Lesquereux (1860) *''S.rugosa'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.saulii'' Brongniart (1836) *''S.schotheimiana'' Brongniart (1836) *''S.scutellata'' Brongniart (1822) *''S.sillimanni'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.tesselata'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.transversalis'' Brongniart (1828) *''S.trigona'' Sternberg (1826) *''S.voltzii'' Brongniart (1828)

Description

''Sigillaria'' was a tree-like plant reaching a height up to 30 meters, with a tall, single or occasionally forked trunk that lacked wood. Support came from a layer of closely packed leaf bases just below the surface of the trunk, while the center was filled with pith. The long, thin grasslike leaves were attached directly to the stem and grew in a spiral along the trunk. The old leaf bases expanded as the trunk grew in width, and left a diamond-shaped pattern, which is evident in fossils. These leaf scars were arranged in vertical rows. The trunk had photosynthetic tissue on the surface, meaning that it was probably green. The trunk was topped with a plume of long, grass-like,

microphyll In plant anatomy and evolution a microphyll (or lycophyll) is a type of plant leaf with one single, unbranched leaf vein. Plants with microphyll leaves occur early in the fossil record, and few such plants exist today. In the classical concept of ...

ous leaves, so that the plant looked somewhat like a tall, forked bottle brush. The plant bore its spores (not seeds) in cone-like structures attached to the stem.Sebastián González, D. and Celia Gutiérrez, M. (2014)
El Bosque Petrificado de Olta: 300 millones de años después
''Sigillaria'', like many ancient lycopods, had a relatively short life cycle - growing rapidly and reaching maturity in a few years. Some researchers have suggested that ''Sigillaria'' was

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are ...

, meaning that it died after reproduction, though this is not proven.Encyclopedia of life
/ref> It was associated with '' Lepidodendron'', the scale tree, in the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

swamps.

Gallery

File:Sigillaria1.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' on display at

State Museum of Pennsylvania The State Museum of Pennsylvania is a non-profit museum at 300 North Street in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is run by the state through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and was created to preserve and interpret the region ...

, from

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, and its largest city is Hermitage. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. Merce ...

File:Sigillaria2.jpg, ''Sigillaria'' (bark) on display at

, from Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania File:Sigillaria sp.4 - Carbonifero.JPG, Replica of ''Sigillaria'' sp. in a laboratory of practices of the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of A Coruña The University of A Coruña ( gl, Universidade da Coruña) is a Spanish public university located in the city of A Coruña, Galicia. Established in 1989, university departments are divided between two primary campuses in A Coruña and nearby Fer ...

File:Lycopsid joggins mcr1.JPG, ''In situ'' Lycopsid that is probably ''Sigillaria'' from the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

File:Sigillaria.png, ''Sigillaria'' Artist's Impression.

Bibliography

* William A. DiMichele, Richard M. Bateman: The Rhizomorphic Lycopsids: A Case-Study in Paleobotanical Classification. Systematic Botany, 1996, Band 21, S. 535-552. * Thomas N. Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, Michael Krings: Paleobotany. The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants. Second Edition, Academic Press 2009, . S. 303-307 * J. W. Sir Dawson - On the structure and affinities of Sigillaria, Calamites and Calamodendron - Paperback – August 16, 2011 * Silva Pineda, A. (2003). "Flora del Pérmico de la región de Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla". En Soto, L. A. Agustín Ayala-Castañares: universitario, impulsor de la investigación científica. UNAM. p. 371.

References

External links

Fossil Plants Vol.II

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1094494 Prehistoric lycophytes Prehistoric lycophyte genera Pennsylvanian plants Permian plants Prehistoric trees Carboniferous first appearances Permian genus extinctions Fossils of Georgia (U.S. state) Paleozoic life of New Brunswick Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Prehistoric plants of North America