Marx maximized value by picking accessories for the prehistoric sets that could also be added to other sets. While ferns exist both before and after the dinosaurs Palm trees, which are flowering plants, only show up at the end of the age of dinosaurs. Marx made the choice of palms because; there are several genera of plants that superficially look like palms, cycads, Bennettitales and tree ferns. Safari ltd. has released the Prehistoric Landscapes series, 3D models of three different plants that span the Permian to the present. The Cycad, Tree Fern and Agathis are the faces of the new Mesozoic accessories. Safari Ltd. also made some generic choices that offer a flora for both prehistoric and modern. Ginkgoes, conifers, the true cycads, williamsonias and the cycadeoids dominated the Jurassic period. Modern Tree ferns have trunk-like stems that can be 20 meters tall but are often shorter. A fern that grows with a trunk elevating the leaves above ground level is called a tree fern. Tree fern like plants along with horsetails dominated the swampy forests of the Carboniferous and around a thousand species are extant today. The green Safari Tree Fern is supported by a fibrous mass of roots and has multiple-pinnate leaves. The top of the fern exhibits the distinctive circinate vernation, where the young fronds emerge in coils that uncurl as they grow.
Cycads come in two general shapes slender palm tree analogues and the pinecone with leaves on top best known from Tamiya and Aurora models. The Safari cycad has a short branching trunk, regularly pinnate leaves with parallel venation in the leaflets like modern cycad Encephalartos, the classic prehistoric “palm”. When used with Carnegie figures it scales to be Pentoxylon from the Jurassic. Some Cretaceous cycads had stems over four feet in diameter and could be quite large. This would scale well with the Wild Safari line. Agathis like the classic lollipop tree, from Walking with Dinosaurs, has a trunk that has no branching below the crown. It is known as the kauri with 21 extant species today. Unlike other conifers with needle or scale leaves these are flat and wide. Medium species reach 40 meters with larger species growing 60 meters in height. So the model can be used with different scaled series. New leaves can have a coppery-red color but mature leaves are green. The model has a brown colored trunk rather the grey color commonly seen in living forms. In the Jurassic these trees were wide spread and important and today they are found primarily in the southern continents. Prehistoric Landscapes are high quality reproductions of trees important in a wide range of prehistoric Epochs and still exist in the present. They are low maintenance, kid friendly and scalable figures. This is the best opportunity for collectors to get plant accessories that are compatible in scale and quality to display your museum quality figures. For gamers this is your best chance high quality terrain accessories for you scenarios. For educators these are high quality learning aids to give context to dinosaur lessons and teach students about the transition of plants from spores, to seed plant and then flowering plants. There is often reluctance for retailers to carry new products. Who wants to take a risk and get stuck with something new that doesn’t sell? I have visited my local toy stores and asked them when they will start to carry Prehistoric Landscapes because I intend to buy them. Let your favorite retailers know you want to buy them and give them the opportunity to expand their cliental.