Comparative morphology and the rise of paleobotany

In the past half century paleobotany in North America has progressed from a subdiscipline of comparative morphology to a broadly based, analytical, interpretative, sometimes experimental subject. Major advances have been made in the area of early land plants, Carboniferous floras, palynology, Precambrian evolution and angiosperms. Important new directions have been initiated, e.g., the use of cladistics, geochemistry, broad surveys of changes in diversity, analyses of radiations and extinctions.