Utrechtiaceae

Utrechtiaceae is an extinct family of trees related to modern conifers. This family dates back to the late Carboniferous and Early Permian.

Utrechtiaceae
Fossil of Utrechtia piniformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	†Voltziales
Family:	†Utrechtiaceae Mapes & G. W. Rothwell

Description

They were forest trees with almost horizontal standing leafy lateral shoots and with vertical tribes. They were generally small trees. At least with Utrechtia piniformis the side shoots are in whorls.

Like other Voltzialean plants, they had compact ovulate cones bearing bilateral bract-scale complexes. The leaves are scale-like, arranged spirally and only a few millimeters long.

Genera

Utrechtiaceae include the following selected genera:

• Ernestiodendron Florin, 1934
• Lebachiella S.V. Meyen, 1997
• Ortiseia R. Florin, 1964
• Moyliostrobus C.N. Miller & J.T. Brown, 1973 : known from the Lower Permian of Texas (Moyliostrobus texanum).
• Otovicia
• Utrechtia G.W. Rothwell & G. Mapes, 2003

See also

• Data related to Voltziales at Wikispecies

References

• Paleobiology Database
• Charles B. Beck: Origin and Evolution of Gymnosperms. Columbia University Press, New York 1988 ISBN 0-231-06358-X
• Wilson Nichols Stewart,Gar W. Rothwell Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants
• G.W. Rothwell, Gene Mapes Validation of the names Utrechtiaceae, Utrechtia, and Utrechtia floriniformis
• Edith L. Taylor,Thomas N. Taylor,Michael Krings Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs 1993, S. 676-679. ISBN 0-13-651589-4