The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lepidodendron \Lep`i*do*den"dron\ (-dr[o^]n), n. [NL., fr. Gr. lepi`s -i`dos, a scale + de`ndron tree.] (Paleon.) A genus of fossil trees of the Devonian and Carboniferous ages, having the exterior marked with scars, mostly in quincunx order, produced by the separation of the leafstalks.
Wikipedia
Lepidodendron — also known as scale tree — is an extinct genus of primitive, vascular, arborescent ( tree-like) plant related to the lycopsids ( club mosses). They were part of the coal forest flora. They sometimes reached heights of over , and the trunks were often over in diameter. They thrived during the Carboniferous Period (about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya (million years ago) to about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya) before going extinct. Sometimes erroneously called "giant club mosses", they were actually more closely related to today's quillworts than to modern club mosses.
The name Lepidodendron comes from the Greek lepido, scale, and dendron, tree.
Usage examples of "lepidodendron".
When I stood just within the opening, the corpse fifty yards away was exactly in line with a particular lepidodendron in the far-off forest.