What is this

[Joey Bekius]

I found this among some fossilized wood, but am not sure what it is

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[Sadie Mills]

Hi Joey! Since it was found among fossil wood I’m going to ask @mackenzie-smith

for ideas on what it could be.

In case it isn’t plant material, I’m going to ask @jbauer

@jeanette-pirlo and @smoran

if they have any suggestions!

Excuse the weird spacing- the @ system is being fickle today!

[MacKenzie Smith]

Hello @joey-bekius,

It certainly looks like it could be plant material. Can you give us some more background information on the specimen (how big is it, where was it found) please? There appears to be a node with divots in it which leads me to believe it could be the horsetail Calamites. This genus is limited to the Late Paleozoic though which is why the additional information helps. Fossil stems (which includes wood) are actually best identified from the cross section because the types of cells and their organization are very diagnostic. Granted, we don’t always get preservation at the cellular level but we get it more frequently than one would expect. Thus, if you can get a picture from the cross section angle, that would also help with ID.

Thanks!

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