Cordaitales

Abstract

For a long time, the Cordaitales have been regarded as the dominant gymnosperm group of the Palaeozoic era. After the discovery of Pteridospermales, it became apparent that both the groups were present in the Palaeozoic. Although recorded from the Lower Pennsylvanian deposit (Good and Taylors 1970), cordaites became an important element of the Carboniferous in the middle Pennsylvanian dunes, and flourished into the Permian. The leaves of Cordaites are reported from the Permo-Carboniferous of Siberia, China, India, Australia and South America (see Stewart 1983). Leaves, stems, roots, cones and seeds of these plants are particularly abundant in the Mid-Pennsylvanian location of Iowa and Kansas in the U.S.A. The order includes a single family, Cordaitaceae.