Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why did Lepidodendron stems have diamond-shaped patterns?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
lycophyte
Club moss (Lycopodium annotinum).
The diamond-shaped patterns on the stems of Lepidodendron were not inherent structural features of the bark itself, but rather the result of the plant's growth process. As these tree-sized lycopsids grew, they shed their leaves from the older sections of the stem. The remaining diamond-shaped scars are the distinct leaf bases left behind after the leaves fell away.1