Peltaspermales

The Peltaspermales are an extinct order of seed plants, often considered "seed ferns". They span from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Jurassic or the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary. It includes at least one valid family, Peltaspermaceae, which spans from the Permian to Early Jurassic, which is typified by a group of plants with Lepidopteris leaves, Antevsia pollen-organs, and Peltaspermum ovulate organs, though the family now also includes other genera like Peltaspermopsis, Meyenopteris and Scytophyllum. Along with these, two informal groups (the "Supaioids" and the "Comioids") of uncertain taxonomic affinities exist, each centered around a specific genus; Supaia and Comia, known from the Early Permian of the Northern Hemisphere, especially of North America. Both the "Comioids" and the "Supaioids" are associated with the peltaspermacean ovulate organ Autunia (also known as Sandrewia). The Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic genus Pachydermophyllum may also have affinities to the peltasperms.

The morphology of peltasperm leaves is highly variable, ranging from dissected pinnate (fern-like) to forked and simple morphologies. The leaves of many peltasperms have "monocyclic stomata with wedge-shaped subsidiaries ending in a beak-like papilla overarching the guard cells", something which is found among other seed plant groups. The seed-bearing organs are generally fan-shaped or peltate.