Calamitaceae
Encyclopedia
Calamitaceae is an extinct family
of plants related to the modern horsetail
s. Some members of this family attained tree-like stature during the Carboniferous Period (around ). The family takes its name from its principal genus
Calamites
.
Because some proposed species are based on partial fossil
records, it is not clear if these are merely different parts of the same type.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of plants related to the modern horsetail
Horsetail
Equisetum is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and...
s. Some members of this family attained tree-like stature during the Carboniferous Period (around ). The family takes its name from its principal genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Calamites
Calamites
Calamites is a genus of extinct arborescent horsetails to which the modern horsetails are closely related. Unlike their herbaceous modern cousins, these plants were medium-sized trees, growing to heights of more than 30 meters...
.
Because some proposed species are based on partial fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
records, it is not clear if these are merely different parts of the same type.
Proposed genera and species of Calamataceae
- AnnulariaAnnulariaAnnularia is a plant fossil from the Carboniferous . It is a form taxon. Its radiating structures are most likely the leaves of Calamites....
.- A. stellata.
- Arthropitys.
- Asterophyllites (or incorrectly Asterophyllum).
- Astromyelon.
- CalamitesCalamitesCalamites is a genus of extinct arborescent horsetails to which the modern horsetails are closely related. Unlike their herbaceous modern cousins, these plants were medium-sized trees, growing to heights of more than 30 meters...
.- C. carinatus.
- C. suckowi.
- C. undulatus.
- Calamocarpon.
- Calamostachys.
- C. binneyana.
- Cingularia.
- Mazostachys.
- Paleostachya.