Williamsoniaceae Temporal range: | |
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Restoration of Wielandiella | |
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Diagram of Weltrichia , a male reproductive structure | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Order: | † Bennettitales |
Family: | † Williamsoniaceae (Carruthers) Nathorst, 1913 |
Genera | |
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Williamsoniaceae is a family within the Bennettitales, an extinct group of seed plants. Members of this family are believed to have been around two meters tall and with widely serrate leaves along a central stem. Reproductive organs of the Williamsoniaceae have varied widely in the fossil record but almost all have been found to be borne on stalks emerging from a ring of leaves. [1]
This family is different from Cycadeoidaceae by having the presence of cones leaving the major axis and lateral branches associated with a long peduncle covered by bracts. Some of this family reproduce by sporangia and others only produce ovule or pollen sacs. [2]