| Callistophytaceae Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Reconstruction of the plant Callospermarion pusillum (permineralized ovules), Idanothekion callistophytoides (pollen organ), Dicksonites pluckenetii (leaves), Callistophyton poroxyloides (stem), and Vesicaspora shaubergeri (pollen) from the Pennsylvanian Calhoun Formation of Berryville, Illinois.[1] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | †Pteridospermatophyta |
| Class: | †Lyginopteridopsida (?) |
| Order: | †Callistophytales |
| Family: | †Callistophytaceae |
| Genera | |
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The Callistophytaceae was a family of seed ferns (pteridosperms) from the Carboniferous and Permian periods. They first appeared in late Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian) times, 306.5–311.7 million years ago (Ma) in the tropical coal forests of Euramerica, and became an important component of Late Pennsylvanian (Kasimovian-Gzhelian; 299.0–306.5 Ma) vegetation of clastic soils and some peat soils. The best known callistophyte was documented from Late Pennsylvanian coal ball petrifactions in North America.[2]
- ^ Retallack, G.J.; Dilcher, D.L. (1988). "Reconstructions of selected seed ferns". Missouri Botanical Garden Annals. 75: 1010–1057. doi:10.2307/2399379. JSTOR 2399379.
- ^ Rothwell, G. W. (1981). "The Callistophytales (Pteridospermopsida). Reproductively sophisticated gymnosperms." Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 32: 103-121.