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Pteridospermatophyta Fossil range: Devonian-Eocene
Fossil seed fern leaves from the Late Carboniferous of northeastern Ohio.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota (unranked): Archaeplastida Kingdom: Plantae Division: †Pteridospermatophyta
Orders
Arberiales Calamopityales Callistophytales Corystospermales Gigantonomiales Glossopteridales Leptostrobales Peltaspermales

Pteridospermatophyta, also called seed ferns, is an extinct spermatophyte group of the Plantae kingdom. Members of this division were predominant at the late Devonian, declined some 250 million years ago, and mostly disappeared by the Cretaceous, though fossil evidence indicates that they survived into the Eocene in Tasmania.¹ The Pteridospermatophyta have not yet acquired a clear position in botanical systematics and indeed appear to be a paraphyletic form taxon. Some appear to be allied or ancestral to the gymnosperms, others seem to be closer to angiosperms.

The seeds of seed ferns develop differently from the other seed plants, as they are believed to grow inside a cupule.

Orders often united in the seed ferns are:

• Arberiales
• Calamopityales
• Callistophytales
• Corystospermales
• Gigantopteridales (= "Gigantonomiales")
• Glossopteridales
• Leptostrobales
• Peltaspermales

References

External links

• Seed fern paleontology
• Seed ferns

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