''Eoginkgoites'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

form genus Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncertainty; the goal of sc ...

of bennettitalean leaves from the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Despite its palmate (hand-shaped) appearance similar to some early

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, , and ''Ginkgo'' is n ...

species, it belongs to a different

gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

order, the Bennettitales. The leaf is deeply segmented into five to seven narrow, club-shaped lobes (pinnae or leaflets) which twist around a very short rhachis. This leads to an overall fan-shaped leaf (similar to a ginkgo but much more strongly segmented) situated at the end of a long

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

(leaf stalk). The leaf has paracytic

stomata In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spa ...

(with subsidiary cells laterally flanking the

guard cells Guard cells are specialized cells in the epidermis of leaves, stems and other organs of land plants that are used to control gas exchange. They are produced in pairs with a gap between them that forms a stomatal pore. The stomatal pores are larg ...

) and veins which strongly branch and lead to a marginal vein at the edge of each leaflet. These structural traits are all shared with benettitaleans. '' Williamsonia carolinensis'', an

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the sporangium, megasporangium), ...

-bearing bennettitalean

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

, has been found closely associated with ''Eoginkgoites'' leaves, seemingly confirming its benettitalean identity.

References

Bennettitales Triassic plants Prehistoric plant genera {{triassic-plant-stub