Canon EOS 60D – 100mm (EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro IS USM) – ISO 100 - 2.0 sec - f/22
Fossilized Giant Club Moss Imprint
One of the most common trees of the Carboniferous period was the giant Lepidodendron (literally translated as scale tree but also called giant club moss), which grew in the hot, shallow swamps of the time. These trees grew to 120 feet tall, with trunks as much as three feet through. It is believed that they grew very fast and close together, like so many telephone poles, until they reached maturity, at which time the stem branched at the top of the long stem and spore production occurred. Some speculate that the lifespan of individual trees was only 15 years and that trees died when spore production occurred. This is a fossilized imprint of the bark, of one of those trees, in sandstone that I found on my property.