Fossil Sphenopteris from Foxley, Tollcross.
This Sphenopteris was a seed fern which grew during the Carboniferous Period. The period is sometimes referred to as the Coal Age and lasted from 360 to 290 million years ago. As the name implies, seed ferns produced seeds to reproduce and were among the earliest seed-bearing plants on Earth. They are now extinct. True ferns, a group which have survived from the Carboniferous Period, reproduce by means of minute spores which are usually situated on the under sides of the leaves.
Reference: 1905.117.l
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
Carboniferous Period, Coal Age, fossils, geology, leaves, plants, seed ferns, Sphenopteris, spores, true ferns