Wattieza
Wattieza was a genus of prehistoric trees that existed in the mid-Devonian that belong to the cladoxylopsids, close relatives of the modern ferns and horsetails. The 2005 discovery in Schoharie County, New York, of fossils from the Middle Devonian united the crown of Wattieza to a root and trunk known since 1870. The fossilized grove of "Gilboa stumps" discovered at Gilboa, New York, were described as Eospermatopteris, though the complete plant remained unknown. These fossils have been described as the earliest known trees, standing 8 m or more tall, resembling the unrelated modern tree fern.
Wattieza had fronds rather than leaves, and reproduced with spores.
Belgian paleobotanist François Stockmans described Wattieza givetiana in 1968 from fossil fronds collected from Middle Devonian strata in the London-Brabant Massif in Belgium.
English geologist and palaeobotanist Chris Berry described Wattieza casasii in 2000 from fossil branches collected from Middle Devonian strata in Cano Colorado, Perija Range, Venezuela.
