Redwood Fossil

 

Here are pictures of a piece of petrified redwood found in Wahoe County, Nevada USA. It dates to the Miocene Epoch of the Neogene Period.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture. Fossil collected in 2024. 

Petrified Wood Fossil of Texas

 

Here is a picture of a piece of petrified wood found in the Yegua Formation of Madison County, Texas USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture. Fossil collected in 2024. 

 

Petrified Wood Fossil found in Texas

 

Here is a picture of a piece of petrified wood found in the Yegua Formation of Madison County, Texas USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture. Fossil collected in 2024. 

 

Texas Petrified Wood Fossil

 

Here is a picture of a piece of petrified wood found in the Yegua Formation of Madison County, Texas USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture. Fossil collected in 2024. 

 

Oldest Famous Tree in Louisville?

 

In Sunday's Courier-Journal newspaper there was an article about the future of Stansbury Park and what the University of Louisville (U of L) would like to do with it. It was mentioned that in 2017 Churchill Park was leased to U of L for development of soccer fields and is thus not a park any more. Mention of Churchill Park triggered the memory of the October 23, 2023 blog post on Rogers Clark Ballard Thruston (1858-1946) and when in 1921 he and his brothers donated family properties that would become Ballard Square, Churchill Park, and George Rogers Clark Park. 

So I decided to visit George Rogers Clark Park on my lunch break at 1024 Thruston Drive in Louisville, Kentucky. The park is known for a 200+ year old bald cypress tree that legend has it was planted by George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) when he thrust his riding crop into the ground and cypress tree grew from it.

Bald cypress or Taxodium distichum trees can live to be thousands of years old. The tree at the park is surrounded by a metal fence with a sign telling its story. It grows next to a small creek at the bottom of a wooded slope. The trunk is quite quite wide maybe over 2 meters or 6 feet in diameter.

Park has a Commonwealth of Kentucky sign reading "Mulberry Hill Home of John and Ann Clark and their family, which included sons George Rogers and William Clark. Clarks built house ca. 1785 and family live here until 1860s. Remains of house and outbuildings razed in 1917 for WW I facility Camp Zachary Taylor. Family cemetery remains with graves of John and Ann Clark and other family members."

 

Louisville Soccer and Living Fossils

 

On Saturday, November 20, 2021 Louisville Kentucky USA hosted the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) championship game which turned out into a competitive match between Chicago Red Stars and the Washington Spirit. The Washington Spirit team ending up winning 2-1 and the above picture shows their award ceremony. 

10,360 showed up for the game and as a result I went to the game several hours early and stayed about 90 minutes after it ended because of traffic. In this extra time, I explored around the stadium and found that the trees planted around the perimeter were Ginkgo biloba (Linnaeus, 1771). According to Wikipedia, while the species was named by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chinese herbalists named it in literature as early as 1329. The fossil record shows leaves from the Permian Period (about 290 million years ago). I have posted about this fossil before back in 2010 (LINK).

Most of the leaves seen on Saturday were yellow from the autumn temperatures though a few still showed some green. The plant has a distinctive fan like shape.

I am curious as to why this tree was chosen for the landscaping the complex. As it turns out, I help the landscape architect from time to time with IT issues. Next time, I encounter him I plan to ask about this. If you get a chance, I encourage you to attend a Racing Louisville or Louisville City soccer game at Lynn Family stadium and check these trees out for yourself and the beautiful venue.

Fossilized Tree Stem Lenticels

This picture is of a fossil tree stem preserved in silica. This mineral preserved the air pores or lenticels.

It was on display at the British Natural History Museum in London on August 2016.

Merry Christmas 2014

I hope anyone reading this has a Merry Christmas. May the new year bring good health and fun fossil finds!

This year's design features three fossils. A fern fossil from Pennsylvanian Period for St. Clair Pennsylvania, a Pliocene sand dollar fossil from Mexico makes up the ornaments, and the star consists of a Cretaceous shark teeth from South Dakota.

Palm Fossil from Arizona

During my visit to the Gallery of Natural History at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park (1300 N. College Ave, Tempe Arizona 85281) I saw fossil specimen (AHS-NH#14891) from Yavapai County, Arizona USA. It is a polished palm tree fossil.

Image taken October 2014.

Learn more:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/trjune99.htm#palmwood

Woodworthia arizonica Fossil

While touring the Natural History section of the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park (1300 N. College Ave, Tempe Arizona 85281) I saw fossil specimen (AHS-NH#11646) from Chinle Formation of Holbrook, Navajo County, Arizona USA. It is a Woodworthia arizonica Jeffrey 1910 tree fossil. This plant existed in the Upper or Late Triassic Period.

Images of museum specimen taken October 2014.

Sources to refer to:
JEFFREY, E.C. 1907. Araucariopitys, a new genus of araucarians. Botanical Gazette, 44, 435-444.

JEFFREY, E.C. 1910. A new araucarian genus from the Triassic. Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Boston, 34, 325-332.

Learn more at these sites:
The Late Triassic Schilderia Adamanica and Woodworthia Arizonica Trees of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA by G.T. Creber and S.R. Ash
http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00345.x

Pasadena Rock Museum

http://pasadenarockmuseum.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/woodwortniaarizonica/