Excellent "false trunk" section CYATHODENDRON SouthTexas polished petrified wood

Description

"Cup Fern"
(Cyathodendron texanum)
Jackson Group  Eocene
Private Ranch in Life Oak County, 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. The specimen pictured has very nice frond bases and complete preservation of the structure on the polished transverse face. The specimen measures 2" in length and 2" x 1.5" on the polished transverse face.  This is a complete section of what is termed a "false trunk" since the "trunk" is simply an accumulation of old fronds and frond bases, old roots and newer adventitious roots plus the persistent ramentum hairs that tend to hold it all together vertically.
Note the excellent preservation of this fern.  You can easily see portions of the winding vascular structure along with roots and ramentum on the polished face.  OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE is the complete exterior which shows the frond bases ("cups") with differential preservation of the vascular structure.
We specialize in petrified wood and plant fossils which are accurately identified as to locality of origin and family, genus or species. We don?t guess and when we don?t know, we say so! Your specimen will come with a label identifying the specimen, the locality where it was collected, the formation and age of the material and any other pertinent information we have gleaned from our literature search.
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