Exquisitely-Preserved Sphenophyllum Plant Fossil from France

Description: This fine specimen is Sphenophyllum, a member of the Sphenopsida. The sphenopsids first appeared in the Devonian. Sphenophyllum was the sole genus of the Sphenophyllales, and was thought to be a ground-covering herbaceous plant which occurred cosmopolitanly in nearly all lowland habitats. Whorls of small leaflets are arranged concentrically around a thin stem. Sphenophyllum became extinct in the lower Permian, leaving the only living example of the sphenophytes the horsetail Equisetum. This fine detailed example is preserved on a hard matrix which preserves details with wonderful fidelity.