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''Wattieza'' was a genus of prehistoric trees that existed in the mid-Devonian that belong to the cladoxylopsids, close relatives of the modern ferns and horsetails. The 2005 (publicly revealed in 2007) discovery in Schoharie County, New York, of fossils from the Middle Devonian (about 385 million years ago) united the crown of ''Wattieza'' to a root and trunk known since 1870, the fossilized grove of "Gilboa stumps" discovered at Gilboa, New York, which had been previously described as ''Eospermatopteris'', though the complete plant remained unknown. These fossils have been described as the earliest known trees, standing 8 m (26 ft) or more tall, resembling the unrelated modern tree fern.〔Stein, W. E., F. Mannolini, L. V. Hernick, E. Landling, and C. M. Berry. 2007. ("Giant cladoxylopsid trees resolve the enigma of the Earth's earliest forest stumps at Gilboa" ), ''Nature'' (19 April 2007) 446:904-907.〕 ''Wattieza'' had fronds rather than leaves, and reproduced with spores.〔 ==References== *(Paleobiology Database accessed 19 April 2007 ) *("Oldest tree had fronds, not leaves". Article on CNN.com ) *((''Cosmos'') Michelle Carr, "Wattieza is world's oldest tree" ) 19 April 2007 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wattieza」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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