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Leguminosae Family wood (likely affinity with Caesalpinioxylon)
Tertiary Morocco (Occupied Western Sahara) ** Attention: serious collectors. If you have some of those great Moroccan fruits (often incorrectly called pine cones by many fossil sellers) then here is a wonderful specimen of wood from the same locality. Is it the same taxon as the fruits? Well, there has not been anything published regarding taxonomic affinity of the fruits so we don't actually know. But there is some good structure on this specimen of wood and can therefore assign some taxonomic affinity for it. Check out the photomicrograph and note the vascular pattern - the vessels are clear round structures surrounded by the hazy white halos. Keep in mind that the brown circular structures are just post-mortem fungal pockets and are not part of the wood anatomy. The white hazy material is parenchyma and it surrounds each vessel (vasicentric parenchyma), seems to connect between vessels across the rays (confluent parenchyma) and occasionally connects two or three vessels on one side only (aliform parenchyma). Other features to note include the lack of distinct growth rings (evergreen deciduous), large size of vessels (50-100 microns) and the relatively scant density of vessels (5-20 per square millimeter). All of these factors, taken together, point towards the fossil genus Caesalpinioxylon in the Leguminosae Family It is worth mentioning that French paleobotanists have noted the form genus Caesalpinioxylon throughout northern African countries in 14 different floras throughout the Tertiary in a study published in the Review of Paleobotany and Palynology 84 (1995) pp. 439-480, so we are quite comfortable with our diagnosis. This is definitely an excellent addition for the serious collector. 4.25” x 2.75” on polished face, 7/16” thick slab $48 |
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Ancient conifer (Araucariaceae Family)
Middle to Late Jurassic Chinchilla/Wandoan District, Queensland, Australia ** Lovely slice from the classic Wandoan District of Queensland. It has the kind of growth rings that make a fine display specimen from Australia. The fact that the district produces highly agatized wood that is free of fractures and imperfections means that the polish achieved by our lapidary is mirror bright. And, at this low price, we don't expect that the slice will last long on our website! 5.75" x 3.5" on polished face; 1/4" thick slab $35 |
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Primitive Conifer (Araucarioxylon arizonicum)
Chinle Formation, Triassic Paulsell Ranch, near Navajo, Arizona ** You can expect slices like this one to become very scarce on the market in the future. The Paulsell Ranch which was located immediately adjacent to the east boundary of the Petrified Forest National Park was added to the National Park a few years ago and is now closed to any collecting. Before the acquisition took place there was an opportunity to collect on the ranch for one last time and the effort produced some really handsome slabs. We love the radial grain appearance of this slab as much as we love the soft colors. Manageable size at 3.5", and who could not love the low price? This one will add graceful beauty to your collection. 3.5” in diameter on polished face; 3/8” thick slab $36 |
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"Cupfern" (Cyathodendron texanum)
Jackson Group - Eocene South Texas ** This is an ancient ancestor of the living genus Cyathea, a group of over 470 species of giant tree ferns found today in tropical climates. The early rockhounds thought that the frond bases in these fossils somehow resembled "cups" along the exterior and the name "cupfern" took hold for the fossil. Some rockhounds referred to them as "Fernbuds" because they thought the large frond bases represented "buds" of new ferns. Of course, ferns do not reproduce by budding off of a trunk or rhizome so that name, while perhaps engaging, is completely incorrect in its interpretation. This fossil species was first described by Chester Arnold, one of the most accomplished American paleobotanists of the mid-20th century. The specific epitath, "texanum" is derived from the fact that the fossil was once widely found on the surface and collected on ranches and reservoir margins in south Texas. Today they are much harder to find - the surface materials have been picked up and new specimens are mainly found after rainstorms erode them out of streambanks and gullies. This specimen is a full "false trunk" section with the frond bases (i.e. the "cups") all the way around the exterior. It is cut and polished on the transverse plane and our photomicrograph shows a portion of this surface. The cut face is the higher end of the "false trunk" and the natural end is the lower end. Structures visible on the polished face include vascular bundles, ramentum, frond traces and occasional adventitious roots. Be sure to enlarge the photos to see the level of detail preserved. 2" x 1" on polished face; false trunk section up to 3" long $79 |
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