Lepidodendron (scale tree) is a prehistoric tree bark or stem from giant, extinct lycopod trees. The lepidodendron fossils are characterized by diamond-shaped patterns on the specimen that were leaf bases from which the tree's needle-like leaves shed as it grew. Leaf scars are very evident on this specimen.
Lycopods are more closely related to modern-day club mosses than trees, with branches only occurring at the top. Present-day lycopsids are the low growing, vascular clubmosses, quillworts and spikemosses that reproduce through spores like ferns. Prehistoric lycopsids grew over 100 feet tall in swampy wetlands and could live for 15 years. They formed massive forests that overtook the landscapes until they went extinct in the Mesozoic, eventually participating in the Carboniferous coal deposits.
Type: Lepidodendron Stem Age: Pennsylvanian (320-300 million years old) Locality: Tasswell, Tennessee and Middleborough, Kentucky
