Palaeophytic
/ˌpalɪəˈfɪtɪk/ /ˌpeɪlɪəˈfɪtɪk/(also paleophytic, palaeophytic) Palaeontology
adjective
Originally: designating a division of geological time during which land plants evolved and lower vascular plants (ferns, horsetails, cycads, etc.) became dominant. Now also: designating or relating to the type of plant or vegetation characteristic of this time (though overlapping in occurrence with the later Mesophytic flora).
- The extent of the Palaeophytic era is variously conceived by different authors. Saporta included the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods; other have extended the era back to the Cambrian (corresponding more closely with the Palaeozoic) or forward to the mid Triassic, or restricted it to parts of the Carboniferous and Permian periods..
noun
Chiefly with the. The Palaeophytic era.
Origin
Late 19th century; earliest use found in Popular Science Monthly. From French paléophytique from paléo- + phyt- + -ique, after paléozoïque.