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Frenelopsis is a genus of extinct conifers belonging to the family Cheirolepidiaceae that lived throughout the Cretaceous period ranging from the Berriasian to the Maastrichtian stages, containing a total of 18 species. It is a form classification describing the shoots of the plant, and is accompanied by the genera Classopollis, Classostrobus, and Alvinia. These represent the pollen, male cones, and female cones respectively. They are likely to have been a major source of lignite in Cretaceous deposits.
Frenelopsis fossils have been found in association with coastal marine deposits. When combined with the genus' morphological similarity to other halophiles like the former family Chenopodiaceae, it can be assumed that they too are adapted to halophilic conditions. They are believed to have lived in salt marsh and mangrove habitats. It is also implied that they are adapted to aridity given signs of water stress in fossil remains. However, this could also be implicative of the presence of salt, as it too can cause water stress. They are also associated with eutrophic conditions and regions with high groundwater levels. Despite these affinities to halophilic environments, they are not obligately halophilic. In addition to this, they have also been found in association with freshwater environments, like lakesides and freshwater floodplains. The high ecological plasticity of Frenelopsis likely allowed them to compete with angiosperm plants, which outcompeted many other non-flowering clades.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Frenelopsis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
