Phylloclade

Flower clusters along the edge of the phylloclades/cladodes of Phyllanthus angustifolius

Phylloclades and cladodes are flattened, photosynthetic shoots, which are usually considered to be modified branches. The two terms are used either differently or interchangeably by different authors. Phyllocladus, a genus of conifer, is named after these structures. Phylloclades/cladodes have been identified in fossils dating from as early as the Permian.[1]

  1. ^ Karasev, E. V.; Krassilov, V. A. (2007). "Late Permian phylloclades of the new genus Permophyllocladus and problems of the evolutionary morphology of peltasperms". Paleontological Journal. 41 (2): 198–206. doi:10.1134/S0031030107020104. S2CID 84644662.