Voltziales


Voltziales is an extinct order of conifers. The group contains the ancestral lineages from which all modern conifer groups emerged. The earliest Voltzialean conifers appear in the Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian).[1] Modern conifer lineages emerged from voltzialean ancestors from the Late Permian to Jurassic.[2] Voltzialean conifers outside modern groups, such as Podozamites, survived into the Cretaceous.[3] One of the earliest and most primitive genera is Walchia, known originally for its leaf form genus, and primitive members of the order are commonly called "Walchian conifers".[4] The order consists of these families:[citation needed]