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Name:
Cone, Seed Pod, or Flower(?)
Age: Pennsylvanian
Formation: Llewellyn Formation
Location: Near St. Clair, Pennsylvania
Size: Each plate is 7.6 inches tall
Here is a very unusual fossil. It is a strange cone, seed pod, or flower from near St. Clair, Pennsylvania. We showed photos of this specimen to the paleobotanist at the WV Geological Survey, and he thought it is a cross-section through a lycopsid cone with cone leaves attached. Sorry, I'm not so sure. I looked at the specimen under magnification, and it looks like the structure of some sort of large seed pod or flower. But I cannot explain the "sunburst" of leaves/scales/thorns all around the pod, which makes this fossil so strange. All I know is I have never seen anything like this from this locality. It is almost surely some sort of cone/fruiting body/seed pod, but EXACTLY what it is, we may never know. (Photo of the back side of the plates is also included.)
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