The History of Land Plants

Fossil and Natural Specimens in Case 4: Which plants created the coal beds? 

Monster plants, the swamp plants that became coal.

Scale: white + black square = 2 cm

    Pectopteris squamosa fronds of a carbonized fern                      Mariopteris sp. fronds in three-dimensions

                         Pennsylvanian, Indiana?                                                    Pennsylvanian, Orange Co., Indiana 

                                        Both from the collections of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites   

Asterophyllites equisetiformis (Horsetail / Equisetum ancestor)                      Asterotheca sp. frond in ironstone nodule

        in ironstone nodule, Pennsylvanian, Vigo Co., Indiana                                                 Pennsylvanian, Indiana? 

                                        Both from the collections of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites     

Sphenophyllum emarginata (Horsetail / Equisetum ancestor)         Palaeostachya elongata fertile axis of horsetail

            in ironstone nodule, Pennsylvanian, Indiana?                  in ironstone nodule, Pennsylvanian, Vigo Co., Indiana 

                                        Both from the collections of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites 

       Annularia radiata (Horsetail / Equisetum ancestor)                   Astrotheca hemiteloides, in ironstone nodule,

              in ironstone nodule, Pennsylvanian, Indiana?           Shelburn Formation, Pennsylvanian, Vigo Co., Indiana 

                                          Both from the collections of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites 

     Calamites sp. (Horsetail / Equisetum ancestor)           Lepidodendron obovatum, mold of scale bark

       cast in sandstone, Pennsylvanian, Indiana?                    in sandstone, Pennsylvanian, Indiana? 

                                        Both from the collections of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites   

                          Neuropteris scheuchzeri leaves                                                      Neuropteris sp. frond

                   Pennsylvanian, Vigo Co., Indiana                                  Carboniferous, Near Osnabruck, Presberg, Germany

     From the collections of the Indiana State Museum                                    From the collections of the

                               and Historic Sites                                                           Children's Museum of Indianapolis

               Stigillaria, Lepidodendron root cast in sandstone                    Stigillaria fucoides, Lepidodendron root mold in sandstone

                         Pennsylvanian, Sullivan Co., Indiana                                          Pennsylvanian, Indiana?  (Similar to specimens

               From the collections of the Indiana State Museum                               from Upper Mississippian from Harrison Co.)  

                                           and Historic Sites                                                         From the collections of the Indiana State Museum 

                                                                                                                                                                and Historic Sites   

        Unidentified branch showing bark, Pennsylvanian,                                             Bituminous Coal

         Vigo Co., Indiana.         From the collections of the

                  Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites  

                                             Equisitem                                                                                                Lycopodium                    

                                                             Herbarium collections, IUS Department of Biology

                                             Polygonum                                      

                                     Herbarium collection

                                IUS Department of Biology

Invasion of Land

The First Trees

Seed Plant: Boldly Growing Where No Plant Has Grown Before

Plants the Dinosaurs Ate 

Flowering Plants: The New Revolution