Lepidodendron

An extinct genus of a vascular, tree-like plant related to today's quillworts. Often called a "scale tree" due to diamond-shaped scars on the trunk; each scar representing the base of a leaf that was shed as the plant grew. Lepidodendron were plentiful in the Carboniferous coal forests and lived in the wettest part of the swamps, where they could grow to heights of over 100 feet and were topped with a crown of bifurcating branches bearing clusters of long, narrow leaves. They lived for an average of 10 to 15 years, and produced using spores (not seeds). Lepidodendron died out by the Mesozoic Era.

Figure #1 shows a nice example of leaf scars on two trunks of Lepidodendron.

Other plant fossils commonly found in the field with Lepidodendron:
   - Camamites
   - Sigillaria

Figure 3. Three-dimensional stem section from Lepidodendron. Leaf scars are visible. Pennsylvanian; Daniel Boone Parkway, Kentucky.

Figure 4. Three-dimensional stem section from Lepidodendron. Leaf scars are again visible. Pennsylvanian; Daniel Boone Parkway, Kentucky.

Figure 1. Two specimens of Lepidodendron on matrix. Carboniferous.

Figure 2. Drawing of a fully-grown Lepidodendron including bifurcating branches, trunk and roots.