Asterophyllites

In fossils, they frequently appear as star-like patterns, which inspired the name Asterophyllites ("star leaf" in Greek language).

Asterophyllites had a delicate, segmented look typical of sphenopsids, resembling herbaceous or shrub-like plants with jointed, hollow stems like current horsetails. Their stems were frequently ribbed or grooved, with nodes where leaves and branches extended outward. The leaves are arranged in whorls (rings) around each node, with narrow, lance-shaped leaves that tapered to a tip. The leaves were typically 5-30 mm (0.2-1.2 in) long, depending on the species.

Asterophyllites reproduce via spores rather than seeds, similar to ferns. The spore cones (strobili) were found on distinct branches or at the terminals of stems, similar to modern horsetails. Their natural color and texture are green, with photosynthetic stems and leaves and a rough, silica-rich surface.

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Asterophyllites flourished in dense colonies or as understory plants behind taller Calamites "trees." It was a part of the Carboniferous swamp forests—humid, low-lying environments populated with spore plants. Like other sphenopsids, Asterophyllites most likely relied on its green stalks for photosynthesis.

Asterophyllites reproduce via wind-dispersed spores formed in cone-like structures. It required moist circumstances during the gametophyte (reproductive) phase. Asterophyllites helped to stabilize swampy soils near rivers and lakes, and also contributed to the creation of coal deposits when vast colonies perished and became buried in silt.

Frequently seen fossilized alongside Calamites (tree horsetails), Lepidodendron, Sigillaria, and Pecopteris ferns.

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The most typical timeline for asterophyllites began in the Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and continued into the Early Permian. This genus' fossils have been found in Europe, North America, Asia, and South America, indicating a widespread distribution during the time of the supercontinent Pangaea.

This fern thrived in coal swamps, floodplains, and river margins, preferring warm, humid, lowland settings with frequent flooding and soft, muddy substrates. Asterophyllites was common in deltaic and coastal plain forests around historic shallow seas.

• Movement Pattern: Not a Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: none

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands, Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests.

• Medicine: human & veterinary

  • Local: ✔, National: ✘, International: ✘

• Food:

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• Earth: 

  • Extinct: Canada; Germany; United States

• Berbania/Hirawhassa: 

  • Extant: none

• Reinachos/Ityosel: 

  • Extant: none

Asterophyllites can be planted on soft and better soil on land, on flower pots or even for plant boxes for horticulture degree life via de-extinction process.

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Biological Relative

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Allies

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Enemies

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See also: none

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• https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterophyllites

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamitaceae

• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q838768

• https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Calamitaceae

• https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=125726

• https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/ag/article/download/25660/1882521512?inline=1

• https://ajsonline.org/article/58152

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Asterophyllites-equisetiformis-1258391814