Cooksonia
genus of plants (fossil)
Cooksonia is an extinct group of primitive land plants, treated as a genus, although probably not monophyletic. The earliest Cooksonia date from the middle of the Silurian (the Wenlock epoch); the group continued to be an important component of the flora until the end of the Early Devonian, a total time span of 433 to 393 million years ago. While Cooksonia fossils are distributed globally, most type specimens come from Britain, where they were first discovered in 1937. Cooksonia includes the oldest known plant to have a stem with vascular tissue and is thus a transitional form between the primitive non-vascular bryophytes and the vascular plants.
Description
Only the sporophyte phase of Cooksonia is currently known (i.e. the phase which produces spores rather than gametes). Individuals were small, a few centimetres tall, and had a simple structure. They lacked leaves, flowers and roots—although it has been speculated that they grew from a rhizome that has not been preserved. They had a simple stalk that branched dichotomously a few times. Each branch ended in a sporangium or spore-bearing capsule.
“Cooksonia” enters the record as genus of plants (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cooksonia, genus and plants can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cooksonia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cooksonia, genus and plants provides the most credible route into that argument.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q131986. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1937.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cooksonia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cooksonia primary sources, Cooksonia archive and Cooksonia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cooksonia”?
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- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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This entry incorporates text from “Cooksonia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.