Devonian Period |
The Devonian Period saw an explosion of new plant types. While flora in the Silurian Period consisted of mats of 2-3 cm tall mosses and Cooksonia in wet areas, the Devonian Period dived head first into the tracheophytes. Lycopods (Lycopodiophyta), ferns (Pteridophyta), and proto-gymnosperms.
These new plants were different in a few ways. One, they had vascular tissue allowing them to grow taller. Second, they had a cuticle outside their skin that allowed them to resist drying out. Third, instead of growing from a haploid gametophyte, tracheophytes mainly grew from diploid sporophytes.