Thyrsopteris
| Thyrsopteris Temporal range:
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Cyatheales |
| Family: | Thyrsopteridaceae C.Presl |
| Genus: | Thyrsopteris Kunze |
| Species: | T. elegans
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| Binomial name | |
| Thyrsopteris elegans Kunze
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| Synonyms | |
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Thyrsopteris is a genus of tree fern. It contains a single living species, Thyrsopteris elegans, endemic to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile.
The oldest records of the genus are the species Thyrsopteris cretacea and Thyrsopteris cyathindusia which were described from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the Cenomanian of the Cretaceous period, around 99 million years ago. Other fossil species include Thyrsopteris antiqua from the Upper Cretaceous of Chile and Thyrsopteris shenii from the Paleogene of King George Island, Antarctica A thyrsopterid rachis is also known from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan.