TEMPSKYA

genus of fossil tree ferns of Mesozoic age (65,000,000 to 225,000,000 years old), constituting the family Tempskyaceae, order Filicales. It was among the most bizarre of plants, with an unbranched trunk up to 40 centimetres (16 inches) across, tapering bluntly to a height of about 6 metres (20 feet) and covered densely on its upper two-thirds with small leaves. The lower trunk was almost entirely composed of fibrous roots; stems continued higher up scattered among the roots, becoming free but compressed together throughout the upper trunk.