Plants

These are some of the plant fossils that I have collected at various sites.


The Devonian Psilophyte, Rhynia.

I originally picked this specimen up for the ripple marks in the sandstone but on closer examination I realised that what I thought was traces from burrowing worms was in fact a tangled mass of plant material. The image on the right shows an incomplete and probably inacurate reconstruction. The white blobs are spore capsules.

This is a reconstruction of how Rhynia was thought to grow. A horizontal underground stem with few rootlets branched into many vertical stems which bore the spore baring sporangia. The species is named after Rhynie in Scotland. This is a famous locality renown for the fossileferous chert containing the remains of plants and arthropods. It is thought that mineral rich hot springs washed over the area and petrified the plant material and the creatures living in it.

The specimen is Lower Devonian and comes from Rhynie, Scotland. (Size about 15cm)



Stigmaria

This is a fragment of ( I love this line ) the stigmarian root of a Lepidodendron. Each of the dimples bore a rootlet some of which can be seen at the top of the picture. The interior of the root was soft and was replaced by sandstone. Only the outer layer was harder and remains as a carbonaceous film.


Petrified wood from the Jurassic

This is a piece of fossilised wood found at Helmsdale in Sutherland, Scotland. These are common finds on the beach there. The wood grain and knots are well preserved. It would take detailed examination to find out which particular type of tree this was but it was probably a conifer as these were common in this area during the Jurassic.

(size about 10cm)

Eocene plant fragments


These are several pieces of wood preserved in pyrites. They come from an area known as 'fossil plant beach' near Sheppy in Kent, England. The wood grain and knot holes for smaller branches are clearly visible.



This is a view across the end of one of the broken sections. The wood is preserved so well that even the growth rings can be seen.



Eocene Seed


These are images of the front and back views of a seed found in the Eocene london clay. It is probably from the Nippa palm and was found near Sheppy in Kent, England. (size 3cm)