Pecopteris

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of widely disseminated fossil ferns, occurring in large numbers in the coal-measures of Europe and America, and found also in the Middle Devonian of New Brunswick. The name was given by Brongniart in 1822. About 30 species referred to this genus were described by Lesquereux, in 1880, as occurring in the coal-measures of the United States, chiefly in Pennsylvania and Illinois. As described by Brongniart, the geuus Pecopteris has bipinnate or tripinnate fronds; the pinnæ; are long and pinnatifid; the pinnules adhere to the rachis by the whole base, and are often more or less deeply connate and not decurrent, and the borders are generally contiguous or nearly so; the secondary veins, which are derived from the median nerve of the pinnules, are simple, bifurcate, or trifurcate. See cut under fern.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Paleon.) An extensive genus of fossil ferns; -- so named from the regular comblike arrangement of the leaflets.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. Carboniferous fossil fern characterized by a regular arrangement of the leaflets resembling a comb