Devonian plants – Psilophyton sp.

Devonian

Left bank of Dnister River, Ustechko village, Zalischyky region, Ukraine.

165mm slab with many specimens.

Plant.

Psilophyton is a genus of one of the earliest land plants.  It’s known from the Early to Middle Devonian of eastern North America, Europe, and China.

Before the Devonian, the land surfaces of the earth were largely barren with some pioneering plants and arthropods struggling against gravity and direct sunlight as they also found refuge in the harsh frontier.  Plants first established themselves at the water’s edge before they evolved the ability to store water.  By the end of the Devonian tropical forests with trees over 100 feet high covered the lowlands.  The drier highlands remained largely unconquered until the Permian.