Utrechtiaceae

Extinct family of conifers

Utrechtiaceae

Fossil of Utrechtia piniformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	†Voltziales
Family:	†Utrechtiaceae Mapes & G. W. Rothwell

Utrechtiaceae is an extinct family of trees related to modern conifers.^[1] This family dates back to the late Carboniferous and Early Permian.^[2]

Description

They were forest trees with almost horizontal standing leafy lateral shoots and with vertical tribes. They were generally small trees.^[2] At least with Utrechtia piniformis the side shoots are in whorls.^[3]

Like other Voltzialean plants, they had compact ovulate cones bearing bilateral bract-scale complexes. The leaves are scale-like, arranged spirally and only a few millimeters long.

Genera

Utrechtiaceae include the following selected genera:^[1]^[2]

Ernestiodendron Florin, 1934
Lebachiella S.V. Meyen, 1997
Ortiseia R. Florin, 1964
Moyliostrobus C.N. Miller & J.T. Brown, 1973 : known from the Lower Permian of Texas (Moyliostrobus texanum).
Otovicia
Utrechtia G.W. Rothwell & G. Mapes, 2003

References

^ ^a ^b GBIF
^ ^a ^b ^c Voltziales (palaeos.org)
^ Early Conifers

Paleobiology Database
Charles B. Beck: Origin and Evolution of Gymnosperms. Columbia University Press, New York 1988 ISBN 0-231-06358-X
Wilson Nichols Stewart,Gar W. Rothwell Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants
G.W. Rothwell, Gene Mapes Validation of the names Utrechtiaceae, Utrechtia, and Utrechtia floriniformis
Edith L. Taylor,Thomas N. Taylor,Michael Krings Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs 1993, S. 676-679. ISBN 0-13-651589-4