What is Cordaitales?
{{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Carboniferous]]{{ndash}}[[Permian]] | image = Cordaites lungatus JdP.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Cordaites lungatus]]'' | taxon = Cordaitales | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = †[[Cordaitaceae]] }} '''Cordaitales''' are an extinct order of woody plants. They are [[Gymnosperm|gymnosperms]] which may have been early [[conifer]]s.<ref>Eckenwalder, James E. 2009. ''Conifers of the World: the complete reference''. Portland: Timber Press.</ref> They had cone-like reproductive structures rather like those of modern conifers. The Cordaitales appeared during the [[Carboniferous]] period. They made big trees which were common on drier ground in [[tropical]] environments. Also, some tall trees and some shrubby [[mangrove]]-like species of Cordaitales seem to have grown in the [[Carboniferous]] [[coal]] [[swamp]]s. Cordaitales were also abundant during the [[Permian]], but died out at the end of the Permian. Many Cordiatales had elongated strap-like leaves, which look like the leaves of some modern-day conifers of the [[Araucariaceae]] and [[Podocarpaceae]]. == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Gymnosperms]]