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Glite Dictionary
psilophyte

psilophyte

1 9.9
An extinct early land plant with simple stems and no true leaves or roots
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪləˌfaɪt/
  • Specialized
: psilófito
  • The fossil remains of psilophytes provide crucial insights into early plant life and its adaptation to terrestrial environments.

Examples

  • Scientists study psilophytes to understand the evolution of vascular plants on land.

  • During the Devonian period, an important group of primitive plants known as psilophytes thrived in ancient landscapes.

  • Her entire attention was fixed on the monster nosing among the psilophytes.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

Psilophytales
vspsilophyte
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct group of very early land plants that appear in fossils and have simple branched stems

is the broader primitive plant group important in early land plant evolution
order Psilophytales
vspsilophyte
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct group of early land plants with simple forked stems and tubes that move water

covers the same ancient plant group but named in a phrase form

Surface Forms

psilophyte singular
psilophytes plural

Morphology

psilophyte = psilo + phyte

Built from learned Greek combining forms ('psilo-' + '-phyte') that are not productive or familiar to an average B1 learner, so the meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.

Etymology

The word psilophyte comes from Greek parts, psilo- meaning 'bare' or 'smooth' and -phyte meaning 'plant'. These were early, now extinct plants that had no true leaves or roots, so thinking of them as a 'bare plant' helps explain their simple, leafless form.