Life and time of Indian Williamsonia

Abstract

The Williamsonia plant, belonging to the order Bennettitales, consists of stem -Bucklandia Presl, leaf-Ptilophyllum Morris, male flower- Weltrichia Braun and female flower- Williamsonia Carruthers. This plant was perhaps a small, much branched woody tree of xerophytic environment. It co-existed alongwith extremely variable and rich flora including highly diversified plant groups from algae to gymnosperms. In India, it appeared during the marine Jurassic, proliferated and widely distributed in the Lower Cretaceous and disappeared from the vegetational scenario of Upper Cretaceous Period with the advent of angiosperms.