Radiatopses (Infraphylum)

Overview

Taxonomy

The Infraphylum Radiatopses is a member of the Subphylum Euphyllophytina. Here is the complete "parentage" of Radiatopses:

Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses Kenrick & Crane, 1997

The Infraphylum Radiatopses is further organized into finer groupings including:

Class (7): Cycadopsida · Ginkgoopsida · Lagenostomopsida · Liliopsida · Magnoliopsida · Pinopsida · Pteridospermopsida

Classes

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Cycadopsida

Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female (dioecious). Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters tall to trunks up to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long, with some specimens known to be as much as 1,000 years old. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes confused with and mistaken for palms or ferns, but are only distantly related to either. [more]

Ginkgoopsida

The Ginkgoaceae is a family of gymnosperms which appeared during the Mesozoic Era, of which the only extant representative is Ginkgo biloba, which is for this reason sometimes regarded as a living fossil. Formerly, however, there were several other genera and forests of ginkgo existed. Because leaves can take such diverse forms within a single species, these are a poor measure of diversity, but wood structure points to the existence of diverse ginkgo forests in ancient times. [more]

Pinopsida

The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs. Typical examples of conifers include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauris, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. The division contains approximately eight families, 68 genera, and 630 living species. Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are of immense ecological importance. They are the dominant plants over huge areas of land, most notably the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, but also in similar cool climates in mountains further south. Boreal conifers have many winter time adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs help them shed snow. Many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called "hardening". While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the immense conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink, i.e. where carbon is bound as organic compounds. They are also of great economic value, primarily for timber and paper production; the wood of conifers is known as softwood. [more]

Pteridospermopsida

[more]

More info about the Class Pteridospermopsida may be found here.

Sources

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Radiatopses