Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did

Still shocks me that sharks evolved before trees.

An interesting site I ran across while looking for a bit more:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bizleyart.com&#x2F;gallery&#x2F;prehistoric&#x2F;palaeozoic&#x2F;devonian&#x2F;1226-prototaxites-224" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bizleyart.com&#x2F;gallery&#x2F;prehistoric&#x2F;palaeozoic&#x2F;dev...</a>

Looks like a possible candidate for wikienigma?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=42824617">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=42824617</a>

I wonder if they&#x27;re something structurally akin to cypress knees: either structural buttresses or pneumatophores?