17. LIVING FOSSILS

The coal and oil deposits from the Carboniferous period 300-350 mill. years ago are to a high degree formed from remains of 15-30 m tall, tree-forming clubmosses and horsetails. back then there was no competition from the trees we know today.

Lusegras/northern firmoss (Huperzia selago)

The coal and oil deposits from the Carboniferous period 300-350 mill. years ago are to a high degree formed from remains of 15-30 m tall, tree-forming clubmosses and horsetails. back then there was no competition from the trees we know today. Now only 15 species of horsetails (Equisetum) remain in the world. One of these is rough horsetail (E. hyemale) which is grown in a large colony here. Its secret weapon is expansion by subterranean runners. This is also the case with the smaller and more aggressive field horsetail (E. arvense), a nightmare for northern garden-owners.

However, the by far oldest vascular plants are the clubmosses. Recent studies have mapped the whole genome of firmoss (Huperzia) and concluded that half of it consist of remains from bryophytes. The latter (mosses and liverworts) have no vessels for water transport, dry out totally and are very primitive land plants. 

Katsura trees (Cercidiphyllum) are among the oldest flowering plants. They are the most common fossils in c. 40 mill. years old bedrocks at Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Today only two living species are found in small areas of Japan and China.