Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

Fusitheca

Fusitheca was a genus of land plant with branching axes. It is known from charcoalified Early Devonian deposits, its type locality being the Brown Clee Hill lagerstätten. Its spores form smooth-walled, unfused, naked dyads. Its axis comprises length-parallel filaments, and their dichotomies are T-shaped, with the branches bending to continue upwards.

Last revised
Jun 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
168 w
Citations
4
Source
Fusitheca
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Stem group: Rhyniophytes
Form taxon: Cooksonioidea
Genus: Fusitheca
Wellman et al. 1998
Species
  • F. fanningiae Wellman et al. 1998 (Type)

Fusitheca was a genus of land plant with branching axes.1 It is known from charcoalified Early Devonian deposits, its type locality being the Brown Clee Hill lagerstätten.2 Its spores form smooth-walled, unfused, naked dyads.3 Its axis comprises length-parallel filaments, and their dichotomies are T-shaped, with the branches bending to continue upwards.3

References

References

  1. Boyce, C.K. (2008). "How green was Cooksonia? The importance of size in understanding the early evolution of physiology in the vascular plant lineage". Paleobiology. 34 (2): 179–194. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2008)034[0179:HGWCTI]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0094-8373.
  2. Glasspool, I.; Edwards, D.; Axe, L. (2006). "Charcoal in the Early Devonian: A wildfire-derived Konservat–Lagerstätte". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 142 (3–4): 131–136. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2006.03.021.
  3. Wellman, C. H.; Edwards, D.; Axe, L. (1998). "Permanent dyads in sporangia and spore masses from the Lower Devonian of the Welsh Borderland". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 127 (2): 117–147. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1998.tb02092.x.