570 vanished lives

149Paleozoic

Clusters of long strap-shaped leaves crowned woody trees from an extinct gymnosperm lineage near early conifers.

150Paleozoic

Six wedge-shaped leaves encircled each node of a slender stem that trailed across the ground or climbed larger trees.

151Mesozoic

Several separate woody columns occupied one stem beneath clusters of long leaves and unusual male and female organs.

152Mesozoic

A stout barrel-shaped trunk held a pinnate crown and many flower-like bisexual reproductive structures among old leaf bases.

153Mesozoic

Finely pinnate fronds carpeted Jurassic understories, each toothed leaflet crossed by repeatedly branching veins.

154Cenozoic

Fan-shaped leaves and paired ovules continued the ginkgo body plan in a species that did not survive to the present.

155Mesozoic

Tall conifers bore nearly spherical cones whose internal scales and ovules were silicified by volcanic landscapes.

156Recently extinct

Silvery hairy leaves and small pale flowers once covered dry slopes; the last reliable collection was made in 1771.

157Recently extinct

Purple pea flowers grew on one limestone river island, with the final herbarium collection made in 1881.

158Recently extinct

The only scientifically recorded tree bore curved yellow-green tubular flowers probably adapted to Hawaiian honeycreepers.

159Recently extinct

Narrow leaves and hibiscus-like red flowers were confined to southeastern Oʻahu and vanished within decades of discovery.

160Recently extinct

Red-striped yellow-green tubular flowers opened among fleshy paired leaves; the last reliable sighting was in 1954.

349Mesozoic

Four net-veined leaflets belonged to a seed fern rather than a true fern.

350Mesozoic

Silica replaced fallen trunks to create today's multicolored petrified forest.

419Paleozoic

Eight-meter leafless crowns formed one of the earliest known forests.

420Mesozoic

Columnar lycophytes formed pioneer stands after the end-Permian catastrophe.

421Mesozoic

Paired forked fronds became an emblem of Triassic southern vegetation.

422Paleozoic

Broad tongue-shaped leaves lacked the strong midrib of later glossopterids.

423Paleozoic

Firm fern-like pinnules belonged to a seed plant rather than a true fern.

424Mesozoic

Orderly lance-shaped leaves lined stems of a widespread but enigmatic plant.

479Paleozoic

A palm-like crown belonged not to a fern but to an extinct heterosporous seed-plant relative.

480Paleozoic

Hollow jointed stems let an early horsetail relative grow as a tall shrub or small tree.

481Paleozoic

Shield-shaped reproductive discs record an innovation among drought-tolerant seed ferns.

501Paleozoic

Diamond leaf cushions and a repeatedly forked crown marked a tall tree-sized lycopsid.