Bennettitales Palæobot.
(ˌbɛnətɪˈteɪliːz)
[mod.L. (A. Engler 1897, in Engler & Prantl's Natürl. Pflanzenfam. Nachtrag to Parts ii–iv. 5), f. next + -ales pl. of -alis Lat. suffix (see -al).]
A class of gymnospermous fossil plants found chiefly in Mesozoic rocks. Hence ˌBennettiˈtalean a., of or belonging to the Bennettitales.
| 1907 Jrnl. Linnean Soc. XXXVIII. 52 Engler..adopts the derivative Bennettitales. 1910 A. C. Seward Fossil Plants II. xxii. 396 The microsporophylls of the Mesozoic Bennettitales produced their spores in sporangial compartments. 1917 Ibid. III. xxxvi. 366 The term Bennettitales is used by Engler, Nathorst, and several other authors as a class-designation for a large number of Mesozoic Cycads agreeing in their..morphological characters with the Lower Cretaceous stems on which Carruthers founded the genus Bennettites. Ibid. 386 The memoir by Carruthers..contains the first account of the morphological features of Bennettitalean flowers based on petrified material. |