Let's travel back in time to the cretaceous period, which existed between 65 and 144 million years ago! Did you know more dinosaurs were alive during this time than any other? The world had some of the hottest climates ever known and as a result, new flowers and plants began to bloom. And without plants, there would have been no dinosaurs because the food chain would have been incomplete.

Meat-eating animals like the T-rex got their energy by eating plant-eating dinosaurs like the Triceratops, which got their energy by eating plants and the plants got their energy from sunlight! But as plants evolved during this period, their distribution changed drastically. Let's talk about the different plants found during the Mesozoic Era (the end of the cretaceous period). 

Mesozoic Era Plants

1. Conifers

The major dominator in the Mesozoic landscape. The slow-growing evergreen trees and shrubs contributed most to the herbivorous dinosaurs' diets. Conifers also included redwoods, yews, pines, the monkey puzzle tree, cypress, and Pseudofrenelopis. However, at the end of the Jurassic period, flowering plants evolved and conifers were overtaken as the dominant flora. 

2. Cycadophytes 

Plants with woody stems (some erect, some spherical) and very tough leaves. Cycadophytes include Cycads and Cycadeoids and dominated southern areas and thrived during the Jurassic period, but begin to decline in the mid-Cretaceous period. They look similar to a palm tree.

3. Gingkos

Peaked during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, these trees lose their soft leaves to cold weather. But, Gingkos are still around today! 

4. Pteridophytes 

Plants that include Lycopods (mosses), Sphenopsids, and ferns. These plants evolved during Devonian and were mainly low-growing during the Mesozoic Era. They were a major source of food for plant-eating dinosaurs that lives in moist areas.

5. Flowering plants

About 140 million years ago, flowering plants evolved during the last Jurassic period. They dramatically changed the Earth's landscape and become part of the HUGE boom in the dino world.