Glossopteris (Greek glossa (γλώσσα), meaning "tongue", because the leaves were tongue-shaped)'s the largest and best-known genus of the extinct order of seed ferns known as Glossopteridales (or in some cases as Arberiales or Dictyopteridiales). History The Glossopteridales arose around the beginning of the Permian on the great southern continent of Gondwana. These plants went on to become the dominant elements of the southern flora through the rest of the Permian b… (More on Glossopteris)