images

Carboniferous forest canopy

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

t-glb91-04011

Date

2014-02-17

This is how a Carboniferous forest of Midwestern North America 350 million years ago may have appeared from ground level looking up toward the sky. This image features vascular, arborescent (tree-like) plants of the species Lepidodendron aculeatum (resembling feather dusters on long sticks), spore-bearing, arborescent plants of the species Sigillaria scutellata (resembling toilet bowl brushes), and pinnate-leafed seed plants of the order Cycadales. Some Lepidodendron grew as tall as 150 feet.