Editing Lycophyte (section)

==Description==
Lycophytes reproduce by [[spore]]s and have [[alternation of generations]] in which (like other vascular plants) the [[sporophyte]] generation is dominant. Some lycophytes are [[Spore#homosporous|homosporous]] while others are [[Spore#heterosporous|heterosporous]].<ref name="Eichhorn">Eichhorn, Evert, and Raven (2005). ''Biology of Plants'', Seventh Edition. 381-388.</ref> When broadly [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscribed]], the lycophytes represent a line of evolution distinct from that leading to all other [[vascular plant]]s, the [[euphyllophyte]]s, such as [[fern]]s, [[gymnosperm]]s and [[flowering plant]]s. They are defined by two [[Synapomorphy and apomorphy|synapomorphies]]: lateral rather than terminal [[Sporangium|sporangia]] (often kidney-shaped or reniform), and [[Xylem#Development|exarch]] [[protostele]]s, in which the protoxylem is outside the metaxylem rather than vice versa. The extinct [[zosterophylls]] have at most only flap-like extensions of the stem ("enations") rather than leaves, whereas extant lycophyte species have [[microphyll]]s, leaves that have only a single vascular trace (vein), rather than the much more complex [[megaphyll]]s of other vascular plants. The extinct genus ''[[Asteroxylon]]'' represents a transition between these two groups: it has a vascular trace leaving the central protostele, but this extends only to the base of the enation.<ref name=Maus14/> See {{section link||Evolution of microphylls}}.

Zosterophylls and extant lycophytes are all relatively small plants, but some extinct species, such as the [[Lepidodendrales]], were tree-like, and formed extensive forests that dominated the landscape and contributed to the formation of [[coal]].<ref name=Maus14/>