Aglaophyton major, a non-vascular land-plant from the Devonian Rhynie Chert

Edwards established Aglaophyton for the plant formerly called Rhynia major after re-examining new and historical material; the profile preserves the paper's refusal to assign the genus to a living higher group.

The profiled Aglaophyton major material is from the Rhynie Chert of Aberdeenshire, Scotland; this named deposit does not establish the genus's complete geographic distribution or centre of origin.

The Aglaophyton reconstruction includes extensive stands of decumbent axes with upright branches, but the fossil study did not measure carbon acquisition, population breadth or a genus-wide ecological guild.

Aglaophyton major was reconstructed with decumbent axes, dichotomously branching upright axes and terminal sporangia; its three-zoned conducting strand lacks the differential wall thickenings used to diagnose tracheids.

The displayed 412.8–410.2 Ma interval is the 411.5 ± 1.3 Ma U–Pb uncertainty window used for the represented Rhynie-chert material; it is not a global Aglaophyton first appearance, last appearance or lineage duration.