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The Treasury - Natural History





A VERY RARE LARGE FOSSIL

12900. MASSIVE FOSSIL LEPIDODENDRON STUMP. Tennessee, Carboniferous Period, 300-450 million years BP. The large stump of pleasing grey and ochre color with a relatively smooth surface in which the vesicles typical of the species are clearly visible. Shown at the University of Tennessee where it was identified and confirmed authentic by them. Dimensions 18 1/2 inches across the top, larger at the bottom, 11 inches high, and 56 inches in circumference. Weight ~400 lbs. Extremely rare complete Lepidodendron stump. Provenance: A Tennessee fossil collection. Found on a privately owned farm in Campbell County, Tennessee.

Lepidondendrons were among the first large trees to appear on earth. These long extinct tall spore-bearing trees were related to modern club mosses. They stood in a dense, swampy forest 320 million years ago contemporaneous with the first appearance of land animals. These Giant Club Moss trees somewhat resembled modern palms crowned with spiky fronds. The green trunks were textured like alligator skin, giving them the name "scale bark" trees.

Price on request.