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Unidenified tree bark sample. |
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Unidenified tree bark sample. |
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This fossil is interesting for two reasons. First, it still includes the coalified tree bark, and second, the grain on the front and back of the fossil are running in different directions. Therefore, one would assume that it is actually the remains of two different trees fused together. |
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The part of this fossil where the coalified bark has broken away reveals patterns of wormholes. Created after the tree had died or perhaps contributing to it's death. |
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Stigmaria is the generic name given to the fossilized roots of the Lycopod trees. These root casts typically exhibit a dimpled texture created by the scars left by the ribbon-like rootlets which radiated from the main roots like the bristles of a bottle brush. |
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A flattenend vascular tube or stele is frequently visible on the end of stigmaria, located just off centre of the axis of the root and running longitudinally down its length. This tube provided fluids and perhaps nutrients to the main tree in life. This stigmaria clearly shows the stele where the outer surface has broken away. |
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Two sides of the same fossil (actually, half of a Stigmaria) showing the outer dimpled surface and the stele on the inside. |
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This fossil clearly shows the ribbon-like rootlets radiating from the imprint of a Stigmaria. |