Dicots

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(27 total)

Umbellularia
Umbellularia
© 2002 University of California Museum of Paleontology

Meliosma beusekomii
Meliosma beusekomii
© 2005 Greg Retallack

Populus washoensis
Populus washoensis
© 2002 University of California Museum of Paleontology

What are Dicots? Dicots comprise more than half of all the living flowering plants, including economically important plants like coffee, potatoes, and olives, as well as large trees like oaks and maples. They also include cacti and most of the large, showy flowers you may see in a flower shop. Dicots get their name from having two cotyledons, or “seed leaves,” which transport nutrients from the seed to the developing embryo. Dicots are most easily recognized by the net-like or branching arrangement of veins in their leaves. The fossil record of dicots is a little more complete than for the monocots, and it extends back to the Middle Cretaceous.

First known fossil occurrence: Cretaceous.

Last known fossil occurrence: Quaternary. This group has living relatives.

Cool Dicots links:

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See Dicots from the:

Quaternary
Tertiary
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Precambrian
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