Podozamites

Podozamites Temporal range: Kungurian-Maastrichtian ~
Mid Jurassic Podozamites, part of the Jehol Biota of China
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Genus:	†Podozamites Braun 1843

Reconstruction of Podozamities harrisii with the associated cones of Krassilovia mongolica from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia

Podozamites is an extinct genus of Permian (Kungurian) to Mesozoic conifers. In its broader sense, it has been used as a form taxon to refer to any broad leaved multi-veined conifer leaves, some of which probably belong to extant conifer groups including Araucariaceae. In a more narrow sense, it has been used to refer to a probably monophyletic group of broad leafed conifers that existed in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly East Asia and Siberia during the Late Triassic to early Late Cretaceous, where it formed part of wet coal swamp communities. Over the course of the Jurassic, the distribution shifted northwards in response to the drying of the lower latitudes, becoming restricted to between 60 and 30 degrees north by the Early Cretaceous.

Podozamites senus stricto would become extinct during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, coincident with the arrival of flowering plants into the Siberian region.

Description

Podozamites leaves are thought to have been regularly shed. Podozamites leaves sensu stricto are associated with conifer cones of the genera Swedenborgia, Cycadocarpidium, and Krassilovia, and were suggested in 2020 to constitute the distinct family Krassiloviaceae within the Voltziales.