Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Phytoclast

Phytoclasts are microscopic plant fragments present in the fossil record, usually found in palynological preparations and acid macerations, and include banded tubes and various nematophytes.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
126 w
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1
Source
Wikipedia ↗
A banded tube from the late Silurian/early Devonian. The bands are difficult to see on this specimen, as an opaque carbonaceous coating conceals much of the tube. Bands are just visible in places on the left half of the image – click on the image for a larger view. Scale bar: 20 μm source ↗
Cuticle of Cosmochlaina, retrieved from the Burgsvik beds by acid maceration. Cells about 12 μm in diameter. source ↗

Phytoclasts are microscopic plant fragments present in the fossil record, usually found in palynological preparations and acid macerations, and include banded tubes and various nematophytes.1

References

References

  1. Gensel, P. G.; Johnson, N. G.; Strother, P. K. (1990). "Early Land Plant Debris (Hooker's "Waifs and Strays"?)". PALAIOS. 5 (6): 520–547. Bibcode:1990Palai...5..520G. doi:10.2307/3514860. JSTOR 3514860.