Cordaites Plant Fossils

Cordaites sp. Age: Lower Pennsylvanian. Location: Fire Creek Formation, Dawson County, Coal Country West Virginia

These seed plants (gymnosperms) appeared in the Late Mississippian and persisted into the Triassic, when they became extinct. Cordaites of the Pennsylvanian were small trees or shrubs in most cases but some grew to heights of perhaps 120 feet. Some forms were like modern mangroves and lived along shorelines, with long, tangled roots above the water. The leaves were long and bladelike.