8.1" Pennsylvanian Fossil Flora Plate - Kentucky

This is a beautiful fossil flora plate that contains a well preserved Lepidodendron sp. fossil, partial Annularia sp. whorls and Mariopteris sp. pinnae. This plate was collected from the Breathitt Formation of Leslie County, Kentucky. It comes from the Late Carboniferous, Pennsylvanian aged forests that formed the coal shales of Kentucky and Ohio.

Annularia is the genus and refers to the leaves or whorl of the jointed-stemmed plant, Calamites, a close relative of modern horsetails. Mariopteris was a seed fern with relatively small compact fronds which are bifurcated twice. Although it is clear that most mariopterids are seed ferns, their natural affinity remains unclear. Mariopterids obviously had a climbing growth habit. This species, like other mariopteroids, had a vine like growth habit and climbed with specialized climber hooks.

Lepidodendron is a genus of extinct, primitive, vascular, tree-like plants most closely related to gill worts and club mosses, that grew up to 98ft (30 m) and had trunks 3.2ft (1 m) in diameter. It is from the Late Carboniferous, Pennsylvanian aged forests that formed the coal shales of Eastern Kentucky and Ohio.

It comes with an acrylic display stand.