Home / Preservation & Taphonomy / Pith Cast and "in situ" Preservation

! University of Aberdeen: The Rhynie Chert Flora. See also The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems: The Rhynie Chert. A learning resource website.

P. Appleton et al. (2015; article starts on PDF page 21): Making the most of Brymbo’s plant fossils . Earth Heritage, 43.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Note photograph on PDF page 22: sediment-filled casts of Calamites stems in growth position.

P. Appleton et al. (2011): The Brymbo Fossil Forest. In PDF, Geology Today, 27: 107–113.
See also here.

Nan Crystal Arens, C. Strömberg and A. Thompson: Sphenopsids and Ferns, The Sphenopsids.

Chester A. Arnold (1956): A new calamite from Colorado (PDF file). Diagrammatic Calamites reconstruction in fig. 1.

S.R. Ash (1967): The Chinle (Upper Triassic) megaflora of the Zuni Mountains, New Mexico. In PDF, New Mexico Geological Society, 18th Annual Field Conference Guidebook, 125-131.
Note fig. 1: Pith cast of the stem and rhizome of Neocalamites sp.

M. Banerjee (2005): Autochthonous deposition of Indian coal beds with palaeobotanical evidences of in-situ plants from Saharjuri Basin, Jharkhand. In PDF, Current Science, 88: 1487-1490.
See also here.

A.R. Bashforth et al. (2014): Paleoecology of Early Pennsylvanian vegetation on a seasonally dry tropical landscape (Tynemouth Creek Formation, New Brunswick, Canada). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 200: 229–263. See also here.
Note fig. 6, 7: Upright cordaitalean trees.
Fig. 8C, 8D: Upright Calamites axes.

A.R. Bashforth and W.A. DiMichele (2012): Permian Coal Forest offers a glimpse of late Paleozoic ecology. In PDF, PNAS, 109: 4717-4718.

A.R. Bashforth et al. (2010): Vegetation heterogeneity on a Late Pennsylvanian braided-river plain draining the Variscan Mountains, La Magdalena Coalfield, northwestern Spain. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

N.N.A. Bayam et al. (2018): Further contributions to the early Miocene forest vegetation of the Galatian Volcanic Province, Turkey. Free access, Palaeontologia Electronica.

C.M. Berry (2019): The evolution of the first forests in the Devonian. In PDF. See also here.
Note figure 5: Base of Callixylon trifilievii (trunk of Archaeopteris) from the Late Devonian (Famennian) of Donetz Basin.

C.M. Berry and J.E.A. Marshall (2015): Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard. Free access, Geology, 43: 1043-1046.

! D.J. Bottjer (2016): Paleoecology: Past, Present and Future. Book announcement (Wiley).
! See also here (in PDF).
! Note figure 11.3 (on PDF page 148): Upright stump of the lycopsid Sigillaria rooted into the top of a coal seam.

M. Brea et al. (2015): Reconstruction of a fossil forest reveals details of the palaeoecology, palaeoenvironments and climatic conditions in the late Oligocene of South America. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 418: 19-42.

Mariana Brea et al. (2009): Darwin forest at agua de la zorra: the first in situ forest discovered in South America by Darwin in 1835. PDF file, Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 64: 21-31. Permineralized fossil tree stumps in growth position.

Mariana Brea et al. (2008): Ecological reconstruction of a mixed Middle Triassic forest from Argentina. PDF file, Alcheringa, 32: 365-393. See also here.-The Darwin Forest consists of 120 stumps in life position!

! J.H. Calder et al. (2006): A fossil lycopsid forest succession in the classic Joggins section of Nova Scotia: Paleoecology of a disturbance-prone Pennsylvanian wetland. Abstract, in: S.F. Greb and W.A. DiMichele (eds.): GSA Special Papers, Wetlands through Time, 399: 169-194. See also here (in PDF), and there (Google books).

! J.H. Calder et al. (2005): The Joggins Cliffs of Nova Scotia: Lyell & Co's "Coal Age Galapagos". In PDF, Field Trip B2, Geological Association of Canada Mineralogical Association of Canada - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists - Canadian Society of Soil Sciences Joint Meeting - Halifax, May 2005. See also here.
Note e.g. figure 5A: 12: Standing lycopsid.

T.C. Cantwell (2023): The Fossil Forest of Axel Heiberg Island In PDF. See also here.
Note figure 1: Erosion of 40-million-year-old tree stump.
"... Over the years of study and surveying, several stumps have seemingly disappeared. In 1992, 62 stumps that had been recorded in 1988 could no longer be located
[...] Unfortunately, in addition to academic visits by careful researchers, the site was also exposed to some looting, especially fruitless hunts for amber thanks to the release of Jurassic Park in 1993 ..."

S.N. Césari et al. (2021): Nurse logs: An ecological strategy in a late Paleozoic forest from the southern Andean region. In PDF, Geology, 38: 295-298.
See also here.
"... Decaying logs on the forest floor can act as “nurse logs” for new seedlings, helping with the regeneration of the vegetation.
[...] Little rootlets preserved inside the wood of several specimens indicate that seedlings developed on these logs. ..."

L. Chirino-Gálvez and O. Vicencio-Campos (2023): When Localities are Lost: Scientists, Collections and the Chilean Fossil Wood History at Valparaiso. In PDF, Historia Natural, 13: 243-271.
Note figure 18: Stump of ancient coniferous in the Natural Sanctuary “Fossil Forest of Punta Pelluco”.

Michael Clayton, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison: Instructional Technology (BotIT). Some image collections. Excellent! Go to:
Equisetales. Fossil sphenophytes.

H.G. Coffin, Geoscience Research Institute, Loma Linda, CA: THE YELLOWSTONE PETRIFIED "FORESTS". All about the petrified forests of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana.
Website outdated, download a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Cindy Creighton, Springhill, Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia Fossils. Calamites pith casts from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.

! G. Császár et al. (2009): A possible Late Miocene fossil forest PaleoPark in Hungary.
! Permineralized tree stumps in situ!
In PDF, in: Jere H. Lipps and Bruno R.C. Granier (eds.) 2009, (e-book, hosted by Carnets): PaleoParks - The protection and conservation of fossil sites worldwide.

N.R. Cúneo et al. (2003): In situ fossil forest from the upper Fremouw Formation (Triassic) of Antarctica: paleoenvironmental setting and paleoclimate analysis. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 197: 239-261.

M.P. D'Antonio et al. (2021): Primary tissues dominated ground-level trunk diameter in Sigillaria: evidence from the Wuda Tuff, Inner Mongolia. In PDF, Journal of the Geological Society. See also here.
Note figs. 1-4: in situ stump casts of Sigillaria from the earliest Permian.

N.S. Davies et al.(2024): Earth's earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England. Open access, Journal of the Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2023-204.

! N.S. Davies and M.R. Gibling (2013): The sedimentary record of Carboniferous rivers: Continuing influence of land plant evolution on alluvial processes and Palaeozoic ecosystems. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 120: 40–79. See also here.
Note figure 14: Large woody debris within Devonian and Carboniferous alluvium.

Carleton William Degges Department of Geology, Colby College, Waterville, ME: CARBONIFEROUS PITH-CASTING MECHANISMS AND SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE MARY LEE COAL-SEAM SPLIT IN NORTHWESTERN WALKER COUNTY, ALABAMA. Abstract.

! W.A. DiMichele (2014): Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics. Int. J. Plant Sci., 175: 123-164. See also here (in PDF).
Large Sigillaria stump cast on PDF page 12 (fig. 8).
! Reconstructions of coal swamps and some dryland plant reconstructions with Cordaitalean trees Walchian conifers.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2013): Growth habit of the late Paleozoic rhizomorphic tree-lycopsid family Diaphorodendraceae: Phylogenetic, evolutionary, and paleoecological significance. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 100: 1-22.

! W.A. DiMichele and H.J. Falcon-Lang (2012): Calamitalean "pith casts" reconsidered. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here (abstract).

! W.A. DiMichele and H.J. Falcon-Lang (2011): Pennsylvanian "fossil forests" in growth position (T⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights. PDF file, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 168: 585-605. See also here.
Note fig. 14 (PDF page 17), Animals using hollow Sigillarian stumps as refuges from fire.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2009): Catastrophically buried Middle Pennsylvanian Sigillaria and calamitean sphenopsids from Indiana, USA: What kind of vegetation was this? PDF file, Palaios, 24: 159-166.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Reconstruction of a Sigillaria vegetation during early stages of flooding and burial in fig. 6.

! W.A. DiMichele et al. (2007): Ecological gradients within a Pennsylvanian mire forest. In PDF Geology, 35: 415–418.
See also here.
"... we report the discovery of a spectacular fossil forest preserved over -1000 ha
[...] The forest was abruptly drowned when fault movement dropped a segment of coastal mire below sea level. ..."

W.A. DiMichele et al. (1996): A drowned lycopsid forest above the Mahoning coal (Conemaugh Group, Upper Pennsylvanian) in eastern Ohio, USA. PDF file, International Journal of Coal Geology, 31.
See also here.

M. Dolezych and W. Schneider (2006): Inkohlte Hölzer und Cuticulae dispersae aus dem 2. Miozänen Flözhorizont im Tagebau Welzow (Lausitz)–Taxonomie und vergleichende feinstratigraphisch-fazielle Zuordnung. PDF file, in German. Zeitschrift für geologische Wiss. See also here.
Note photographs of tree stumps on plate 2.

M. Dolezych et al. (2019): Taxonomy of Cretaceous–Paleogene coniferous woods and their distribution in fossil Lagerstätten of the high latitudes. PDF file, in: Piepjohn K., Strauss J.V., Reinhardt L., McClelland W.C. (eds.), Circum-arctic structural events: tectonic evolution of the arctic margins and trans-arctic links with adjacent orogens. Boulder (CO).
See also here. Note figure 3B: Fossil wood with a resin inclusion.
Figure 10: Driftwood of Taxodioxylon vanderburghii.

M. Dolezych (2005): Koniferenhölzer im Lausitzer Flöz und ihre ökologische Position. PDF file, thesis, in German, with English summary (starting on PDF page 27). LLP Contributions Series, 19.
Note photographs on PDF page 312, 313, 336.

! S.G. Driese et al. (1997): Morphology and taphonomy of root and stump casts of the earliest trees (Middle to Late Devonian), Pennsylvania and New York, U.S.A. In PDF, PALAIOS, 12: 524–537. See also here.

R.F. Dubiel (1987): Sedimentology of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation Southeastern Utah: Paleoclimatic Implications. In PDF, Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science.
See fig. 8: Horsetail pith casts, formed when the hollow trunks of the horsetails were broken off and filled with sediment during a flood event.

Centro di Paleontologia Vegetale della Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba, Dunarobba, Italy: Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba (in Italian). See also here (Wikipedia) and there (Mineralienatlas, with citations, in German). See especially The Fossil Forest of Dunarobba (Umbriantravel, in English).
Neogene tree stumps in situ!

B. Erdei et al. (2009): The buried Miocene forest at Bükkábrány, Hungary. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 155: 69–79.
See also here.
Note plate 1: In situ upright stumps in the opencast mine at Bükkábrány.
"... fifteen ‘in situ’ stumps standing at their original position ..."

H.J. Falcon-Lang (2015): Small cordaitalean trees in a marine-influenced coastal habitat in the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation, Nova Scotia. Journal of the Geological Society, 162, 485-500. See also here (in PDF).

! H.J. Falcon-Lang (2015): A calamitalean forest preserved in growth position in the Pennsylvanian coal measures of South Wales: Implications for palaeoecology, ontogeny and taphonomy. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here (abstract).

H.J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2014): Coniferopsid tree trunks preserved in sabkha facies in the Permian (Sakmarian) Community Pit Formation in south-central New Mexico, U.S.A.: Systematics and palaeoecology. Abstract.

Howard J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2011): Pennsylvanian coniferopsid forests in sabkha facies reveal the nature of seasonal tropical biome. Abstract, Geology, 39: 371-374.

H.J. Falcon-Lang (2009): A Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri tree preserved in growth position in the Middle Pennsylvanian Sydney Mines Formation, Nova Scotia, Canada Atlantic Geology.

H.J. Falcon-Lang (2005): Earliest mountain forests. Abstract. Geology Today, 21.
See fig. 3: A cordaite stump has been transported in an ancient river system from nearby mountains.

H.J. Falcon-Lang and A.R. Bashforth (2005): Morphology, anatomy, and upland ecology of large cordaitalean trees from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Newfoundland. PDF file, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 135: 223-243.
See Fig. 11: Whole plant reconstruction of a large cordaitalean tree.

Howard J. Falcon-Lang and John H. Calder: Sir William Dawson (1820-1899): a very modern paleobotanist. PDF file, Atlantic Geology, 41: 103-114. Fig. 2, 4, 5, 7: Cliffs of Joggins, pith cast preservation in growth position.
From the Atlantic Geology volume on the classic Carboniferous site at Joggins, Nova Scotia.

A.R. Fiorillo and T. Hamon (2024): The dinosaur-bearing rocks of Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve: A fossil resource of global interest. Free access, Parks Stewardship Forum, 40.
Note figure 3: Upright fossil tree trunk.

J.E. Francis, Earth Sciences, University of Leeds: Fossil Trees in the Basal Purbeck Formation on Portland - The Great Dirt Bed Forest.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
See also here.

R.A. Gastaldo et al. (2020): The Coal Farms of the Late Paleozoic. In PDF. See also here.

R.A. Gastaldo et al. (2004): Erect forests are evidence for coseismic base-level changes in Pennsylvanian cyclothems of the Black Warrior Basin, USA. PDF file, in: J.C. Pashin and R.A. Gastaldo (eds): Sequence stratigraphy, paleoclimate, and tectonics of coal-bearing strata. AAPG Studies in Geology 51: 219-238.

R.A. Gastaldo (1992): Regenerative growth in fossil horsetails following burial by alluvium. In PDF, Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology, 6: 203-219. See also here
and there.

R.A. Gastaldo et al. (1989): Biostratinomic processes for the development of mud-cast logs in Carboniferous and Holocene swamps. PDF file, Palaios, 4: 356-365.
See also here.

R.A. Gastaldo et al. (1989): Biostratinomic processes for the development of mud-cast logs in Carboniferous and Holocene swamps. PDF file, Palaios.

M.R. Gibling et al. (2014): Palaeozoic co-evolution of rivers and vegetation: a synthesis of current knowledge. In PDF, Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 125: 524–533. See also here.
Note fig. 2E: Log accumulation at base of braided-fluvial channel.
Note fig. 2F: Upright lycopsid tree, 1.5 m tall.

! M.R. Gibling et al. (2014): Palaeozoic co-evolution of rivers and vegetation: a synthesis of current knowledge. In PDF, Proceedings of the Geologists´ Association, 125: 524-533.

! M.R. Gibling and N.S. Davies (2012): Palaeozoic landscapes shaped by plant evolution. In PDF, Nature Geoscience, 5. See also here (abstract).

David R. Greenwood, Zoology Dept., Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada: Mummified tree stumps on Axel Heiberg Island, Canada (PDF file). In low grade lignite preserved tree stumps.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

E.L. Gulbranson et al. (2020): When does large woody debris influence ancient rivers? Dendrochronology applications in the Permian and Triassic, Antarctica. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 541.
See also here (in PDF).
Note figure 6C, D: In situ stumps.

E.L. Gulbranson et al. (2012): Permian polar forests: deciduousness and environmental variation. In PDF, Geobiology, 10: 479-495.
See also here.
Note upright permineralized stumps in figure 3 and 6.

J.M. Gutak and D.A. Ruban (2013): Catastrophes versus events in the geologic past: how does the scale matter? In PDF.
! Photograph of an upright stem on PDF page 5!

T.G. Halle (1913): II.—On upright Equisetites Stems in the Oolitic Sandstone in Yorkshire. Abstract, Geological Magazine, 10: 3-7.

M. Hámor-Vidó et al. (2010): In situ preservation and paleoenvironmental assessment of Taxodiacea fossil trees in the Bükkalja Lignite Formation, Bükkábrány open cast mine, Hungary. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 81: 203–210.
See also here.
Note figure 2: Fossil trees are standing on the top of the top of lignite seam.

M. Havelcová et al. (2013): “Stump Horizon” in the Bílina Mine (Most Basin, Czech Republic)—GC–MS, optical and electron microscopy in identification of wood biological origin. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 107: 62–77. See also here.

J.J. Hayward and B.W. Hayward (1995): Fossil forest preserved in volcanic ash and lava at Ihumatao and Takapuna, Auckland. In PDF, Tane, 35: 127–142.
See likewise here (in PDF).
Note Fig. 2: Lava mould of tree stumps preserved in-situ at Takapuna reef.

J.K. Hinz et al. (2010): A high-resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of a fossil forest (Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation, Junggar Basin, Northwest China). In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 90: 203-214.
Note fig. 2: Stumps and log-bearing horizons.

Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow: Scottish Geology, Rhynie. A block of the Rhynie Chert showing very well preserved vertical axes.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! A Ielpi et al. (2015): Impact of Vegetation On Early Pennsylvanian Fluvial Channels: Insight From the Joggins Formation of Atlantic Canada. In PDF, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85: 999-1018.

A. Ielpi et al. (2022): The impact of vegetation on meandering rivers. In PDF, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3: 165–178.
See also here.
! Note fig. 2: Graphical timeline summary of the main evolutionary and fluvial-geomorphic events that accompanied the Palaeozoic rise of land plants, with select plant types and their approximate first appearance.
! Fig. 4: Meandering rivers in barren and vegetated landscapes.

The International Commission on Geoheritage (ICG) (a permanent commission of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)):
! The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites. In PDF, 153 pages. This collaborative achievement is authored by more than 350 experts from more than 40 countries. Breathtaking photographs! Superbly done! Don't miss:
Site 031: The Fossil Cliffs of Joggins (on page 94; PDF page 49).
Site 040: The Early Miocene Petrified Forest of Lesvos (on page 112; PDF page 58).

V.S. Isaev et al. (2018): The fossil Permian plants from the Vorkuta series, Pechora Coal basin. Recent acquisitions in the collection of the Earth Science Museum at Lomonosov Moscow University. Moscow University Bulletin. Series 4. Geology. See also here (in PDF).
Note fig. 3: A giant Permian dragonfly produces the ovipositions on the shoot of a large equisetophyte.
Note Photo series 2, fig: 3: Paracalamites aff. frigidus Neuburg; two shoots preserved vertically within the layer, in situ.

V.S. Isaev et al. (2018): Permian Fossil Plants from the Sediments of the Vorkuta Series at the Pechora Coal Basin in the Collection of the Earth Science Museum of Moscow State University. Moscow University Geology Bulletin, 73: 434–443. See also here (in PDF).
Note fig. 2: The shoot of Paracalamitina cf. striata Zalessky emend. Naug. equisetophyte with probable ovipositions of dragonflies.
Note photo series 1, fig. 3: 3, Paracalamites aff. frigidus Neuburg; shoots preserved vertically within the layer.

T.H. Jefferson (1982): Fossil forests from the lower Cretaceous of Alexander Island, Antarctica. PDF file, Palaeontology, 25: 681-708.
A standing-tree fossil forest.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Joggins Fossil Centre, Joggins, Canada: The Joggins Fossil Cliffs. A UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.

K.-P. Kelber (2007): Die Erhaltung und paläobiologische Bedeutung der fossilen Hölzer aus dem süddeutschen Keuper (Trias, Ladinium bis Rhätium) (PDF file, in German).- pp. 37-100; In: Schüßler, H. & Simon, T. (eds.): Aus Holz wird Stein - Kieselhölzer aus dem Keuper Frankens. Go to:
Fig. 3a, 3j, pith cast preservation of "Voltzia coburgensis";
Fig. 3k, pith cast preservation of "Chelepteris macropeltis".

K.-P. Kelber (2005): Makroflora (Die Keuperfloren). PDF file (12 MB), in German. In: Beutler, G., Hauschke, N., Nitsch, E. and Vath, U. (eds.): Deutsche Stratigraphische Kommission, Stratigraphie von Deutschland IV - Keuper. Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg, 253: 32-41. Pith cast preservation of Equisetites arenaceus (plate 1, fig. n).

Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY:
Fossils of the Month. Go to:
! Fossil of the month: Calamites.
Note the illustration: How fossils are formed from pith casts, external, and internal casts and impressions.

H. Khalilizadeh et al. (2022): Two fossilized swamps containing in situ Sphenophyta stems, rhizomes, and root systems from the Middle Jurassic Hojedk Formation, Kerman area (Iran) . In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.
See also here.
Note fig. 6: Aerial organs of in situ equisetalean stem.

J. Kus et al. (2020): Coal petrological and xylotomical characterization of Miocene lignites and in-situ fossil tree stumps and trunks from Lusatia region, Germany: Palaeoenvironment and taphonomy assessment. Abstract, International Journal of Coal Geology. See also here (in PDF).
Note figure 2: In-situ preserved stumps encountered in the 2nd Miocene Seam Horizon of Lower Lusatia.

E. Kyriazi (2022): Analytical Techniques and Observation Tools for the Diagnosis of the Pathology of in situ Fossil Forests. In PDF, Conservation 360º.
See also here.
! Note figure 2: The largest known petrified trees in the world.

M. Laaß et al. (2020): First evidence of arthropod herbivory in calamitalean stems from the Pennsylvanian of Germany. In PDF, Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 90: 219-246. See also here.
Note fig. 7: Taphonomy and fossilization of the calamitalean pith cast with arthropod borings.

S.G. Lucas et al. (2023): Unusual Sandstone Cylinders from the Lower Permian Glorieta Sandstone, Northern New Mexico. In PDF, New Mexico Geology. See also here.
"... The most likely origin of these cylinders is as the fill of molds left by plant stems that were buried upright ..."

J.A. Luczaj et al. (2019): Comment on “Non-Mineralized Fossil Wood” by George E. Mustoe (Geosciences, 2018). Free access, Geosciences, 8.

L. Luthardt et al. (2018): Severe growth disturbances in an early Permian calamitalean – traces of a lightning strike? In PDF, Palaeontographica Abteilung B, 298: 1-22.
See also here.
! "... The special injury of the calamitalean described herein [...] exhibits an elongated to triangular shape, a central furrow, a scar-associated event ring of collapsed to distorted tracheids, and was ultimately overgrown by callus parenchyma. We suggest that this scar most likely was caused by a lightning strike ..."

L. Luthardt et al. (2016): Palaeoclimatic and site-specific conditions in the early Permian fossil forest of Chemnitz—Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeobotanical evidence. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 441: 627–652.
See also here.

C. Martín-Closas et al. (2018): New palaeobotanical data from Carboniferous Culm deposits constrain the age of the Variscan deformation in the eastern Pyrenees. Abstract, Geologica acta, 16: 107-123. See also here and there (in PDF).
Pith cast preservation of Calamites!

C. Martín-Closas and J. Galtier (2005): Plant taphonomy and paleoecology of Late Pennsylvanian intramontane wetlands in the Graissessac-Lodève basin (Languedoc, France). In PDF, Palaios, 20: 249–265. See also here.
Note Fig. 7E: An erect pith-cast of Calamites in life position.

E. Martinetto et al. (2014): The plant record of the Dunarobba and Pietrafitta sites in the Plio-Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental context of Central Italy. In PDF, Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, 27: 29-72.
Please take notice: Fig. 6: Two panoramic views of the Dunarobba Fossil Forest with tree stumps in situ!

M.R. McCurry et al. (2022): A Lagerstätte from Australia provides insight into the nature of Miocene mesic ecosystems. Free access, Sci. Adv., 8.
Note fig. 3H: Rugulatisporites trophus showing the imprint of exine.
Fig. 3I: Rugulatisporites sp. with both exine (arrowheads) and intine steinkern (S).

B. Meyer-Berthaud and A.L. Decombeix (2012): Palaeobotany: in the shade of the oldest forest. In PDF, Nature 483: 41-42.

! M.F. Miller et al. (2016): Highly productive polar forests from the Permian of Antarctica. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 441: 292–304. See also here (in PDF).

T.E. Mottin et al. (2022): A glimpse of a Gondwanan postglacial fossil forest. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 588. See also here.

Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster: The Rhynie Chert and its Flora. Go to: 2. The Rhynie Chert Flora. An image showing upright standing Aglaophyton major axes.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! G.E. Mustoe (2023): Silicification of Wood: An Overview. Open access, Minerals, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020206.
Note figure 13: In situ preservation of a Sequioxylon stump, upright trunk in Eocene volcaniclastic sediment, and Late Pleistocene trunk in alluvial fan deposits.
"... Rates of silicification are primarily related to dissolved silica levels and permeability of sediment that encloses buried wood. Rapid silica deposition takes place on wood in modern hot springs, but these occurrences have dissimilar physical and chemical conditions compared to those that exist in most geologic environments. The times required for silicification are variable, and cannot be described by any generalization ..."

G.E. Mustoe (2018): Non-Mineralized Fossil Wood. Open access, Geosciences, 8.

The New York Times (May 01, 2012): An Underground Fossil Forest Offers Clues on Climate Change.

M. Nishino et al. (2023): An exceptionally well.preserved monodominant fossil forest of Wataria from the lower Miocene of Japan. Free access, Scientific Reports, 13.

S. Oplustil et al. (2014): T⁰ peat-forming plant assemblage preserved in growth position by volcanic ash-fall: A case study from the Middle Pennsylvanian of the Czech Republic. In PDF, Bulletin of Geosciences, 89: 773–818.

M.G. Passalia et al. (2023): The Valcheta Petrified Forest (Upper Cretaceous), northern Patagonia, Argentina: A geological and paleobotanical survey. In PDF, Journal of South American Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105395.
See also here.

Sid Perkins, Science now: ScienceShot: Ancient Forest Kept Good Company. Fossil tree stumps in a sandstone quarry near Gilboa, New York.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

H.W. Pfefferkorn et al. (2001): Modern tropical analogs for Carboniferous standing forests: Comparison of extinct Mesocalamites with extant Montrichardia. Abstract, Historical Biology, 15.

Picsearch: Calamites images.

Mike Pole, New Zealand:
The Biggest Tree Stump in the Curio Bay Jurassic Forest.

! G.M. Rex, W.G. Chaloner (1983): The experimental formation of plant compression fossils. PDF file, Palaeontology, 26: 231-252.
See also here.

! M. Qin et al. (2024): In situ forest with lycopsid trees bearing lobed rhizomorphs from the Upper Devonian of Lincheng, China. Free access, PNAS Nexus, 3. pgae241, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae241.
Note figure 7: Reconstruction of Heliodendron’s rooting system.
"... The Devonian witnessed the transformation from clastic nonlycopsid dominated forests to Carboniferous swampy forests dominated by giant lycopsid trees. These trees form a multigenerational community, as shown by the in situ preserved stems at various levels ..."

L.F. Rinehart et al. (2015): Plant architecture and spatial structure of an early Permian woodland buried by flood waters, Sangre de Cristo Formation, New Mexico. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

R. Roberts et al. (2016, article starts on PDF page 7): Root and branch reform for Brymbo fossil. In PDF, Earth Heritage 45.
Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
An in situ Lepidodendron trunk and its excavation from the former Brymbo Steelworks (Wales).

D. Rockenbach Boardman et al. (2016): A new genus of Sphenopsida from the Lower Permian of the Paraná Basin, Southern Brazil. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 233: 44–55. See also here and there.

R. Rößler et al. (2014): The root systems of Permian arborescent sphenopsids: evidence from the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In PDF, see also here (abstract).

R. Rößler et al. (2012):
! Start on PDF page 213: Field trip 2: Petrified Forest of Chemnitz – A Snapshot of an Early Permian Ecosystem Preserved by Explosive Volcanism. In PDF, Centenary Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Terra Nostra.
Note fig. 4 (on PDF page 218): The interpretative drawing of the excavation Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf.

! R. Rößler et al. (2008): Auf Schatzsuche in Chemnitz – Wissenschaftliche Grabungen `08. PDF file, in German. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 31: 05-44.
"... This contribution provides an overview and first results of the Natural History Museum’s scientific excavation,
[...] The whole tuff section provided plenty of fossil finds; some of the trunks still remained standing upright (in-situ) in growth position. The set of Permian age plants evidenced at this excavation belongs to a diverse mainly hygrophilous community made of cordaitaleans, medullosan seed ferns, calamitaleans and tree ferns. Of special scientific interest is a cordaitalean gymnosperm trunk showing branching in different height levels and some Arthropitys specimens one of these showing for the first time the diverse branched top of a calamitalean trunk ..."

R. Rößler, (2006): Einzigartig und dennoch ausgestorben - Die Schachtelhalm-Giganten des Perms (in German). In PDF, Fossilien, 23: 87-92.
Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Sächsische Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie (2006): Das Döhlener Becken bei Dresden - Geologie und Bergbau. PDF file, in German. Bergbau in Sachsen, vol. 12. See especially PDF page 30: Macroflora starting on PDF page 32 (by M. Barthel). Calamites pith cast on PDF page 35.

A.J. Sagasti et al. (2021): Plant Taphonomy and Paleoenvironment of the Bahía Laura Complex, Middle–Late Jurassic, at the Laguna Flecha Negra Locality (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). In PDF, Ameghiniana, 58.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

B. Santucci et al. (2021): An Overview Of Paleontological Resources Preserved Within Prehistoric And Historic Structures. PDF file, In: Lucas, S.G., Hunt, A.P. & Lichtig, A.J. (eds.), 2021, Fossil Record 7. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 82.
See also here (starting on page 347 (PDF-page 348)).
Note figure 1: Agate House, constructed of petrified wood, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.
Figure 4: Petrified wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) in the Arizona Commemorative Stone, Washington Monument, Washington.
! Figure 5: Petrified tree stump collected during the 1950s from what is now Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado, on display at Disneyland’s Frontierland (Anaheim, California).

K.F. v. Schauroth (1852): Ueber das Vorkommen von Voltzia coburgensis im mittleren Keupersandstein. Zeitschrift der Deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft, 4: 538-544. Provided by Openlibrary.org.
Pith casts of wood, the Voltzia coburgensis preservation.

A. Schenk (1864, starting on PDF page 297): Beiträge zur Flora der Vorwelt. Palaeontographica, 11: 296-308, plate XLVI-XLIX (starting on PDF page 475).
See also here.
Note plate XLVI (on PDF page 475): Pith cast preservation of the fern Chelopteris macropeltis and the coniferous wood Voltzia coburgensis.

Sabine Schmidt, Gravity Research Group, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany: Die Erde (in German).
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Go to: Biostratonomie: Fossildiagenese. Scroll down to: "Die Erhaltung von Pflanzen" (in German).

J.W. Schneider et al. (2014): Part II. The Carboniferous-Permian basins in Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt of East Germany. In PDF. See also here. Note fig. 51 (PDF page 13): Cordaixylon trunk with attached branches up to 3 m long as well as other gymnosperm trunks, one is still in situ standing.

! A.C. Scott (1998): The legacy of Charles Lyell: advances in our knowledge of coal and coal-bearing strata. In PDF, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 143: 243-260. See also here.

! A. Scott and M. Collinson (1982): Investigating fossil plant beds. Part 1: The origin of fossil plants and their sediments. PDF file, Geology Teaching, 7: 114-122.
! Note fig. 3: Sketch of in situ silicified tree stumps and lignitic roots, partly with siliceous core.

Z. Simunek et al. (2009): Cordaites borassifolius (Sternberg) Unger (Cordaitales) from the Radnice Basin (Bolsovian, Czech Republic). PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences, Czech Geological Survey. Pith cast preservation in fig. 32.

Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Underground Carboniferous Forest (Riola mine, Illinois). A lycopsid tree stump and a pith cast of Calamites.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! W.E. Stein et al. (2019): Mid-Devonian Archaeopteris Roots Signal Revolutionary Change in Earliest Fossil Forests. Free access, Current Biology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.11.067. See also here (in PDF).
Worth checking out:
Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest forest—and its radical impact on life (by Colin Barras, Science Magazine, www.sciencemag.org/news/).

W.E. Stein et al. (2012): Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa. Abstract, Nature, 483. Numerous Eospermatopteris root systems in life position within a mixed-age stand of trees, large woody rhizomes with adventitious roots.

L.H. Tanner and S.G. Lucas (2007): Origin of sandstone casts in the Upper Triassic Zuni Mountains Formation, Chinle Group, Fort Wingate, New Mexico. In PDF, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 40: 209–214.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here (provided by Google books).
"... We propose alternatively that the casts are rhizoliths formed by the deep tap roots of the sphenopsid Neocalamites. ..."

! E.L. Taylor et al. (1992): The present is not the key to the past: a polar forest from the Permian of Antarctica. In PDF, Science, 257.

! B.A. Thomas et al. (2019): The distribution of plant fossils and their palaeoecology in Duckmantian (Bashkirian, Lower Pennsylvanian) strata at Brymbo, North Wales, UK. Open access, Geological Journal.
Note figure 3b: Stigmaria trunk in situ.
Note figure 17: Calamites stems and pith casts.

B.A. Thomas (2016): A Carboniferous Fossil Forest in North Wales: Problems and Potentials Associated with Developing and Conserving a "Soft-Rock" Site. Geoheritage.

! B.A. Thomas and L.J. Seyfullah (2015): Stigmaria Brongniart: a new specimen from Duckmantian (Lower Pennsylvanian) Brymbo (Wrexham, North Wales) together with a review of known casts and how they were preserved. Abstract, Geological Magazine, 152: 858–870. See also here (in PDF).

B.A. Thomas and C.J. Cleal (2015): Cyclones and the formation of plant beds in late Carboniferous tropical swamps. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 95: 531–536. See also here (in PDF).

! B.A. Thomas (2014): In situ stems: preservation states and growth habits of the Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) calamitaleans based upon new studies of Calamites Sternberg, 1820 in the Duckmantian at Brymbo, North Wales, UK. Free access, Palaeontology, 57: 21–36.

B.A. Thomas (1986): The formation of large diameter plant fossil moulds and the Walton theory of compaction. In PDF, Geological Journal, 21: 381–385. See also here (abstract).

Marian Timpe, Rostock, Germany:
Versteinerte Pflanzen (in German). A well organized website showing permineralized wood from all over the world. Including location descriptions.
! Note fossil tree stumps e.g. from Lesvos.

A. Tosal et al. (2022): Plant taphonomy and palaeoecology of Pennsylvanian wetlands from the Erillcastell Basin of the eastern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 605.
See also here.
"... A specimen of C. undulatus (50 cm long and 5 cm wide) was found charred and in an upright position within a pyroclastic bed intercalated in these shales ..."
Note figure 6; Plant taphonomic features. See especially:
Figure 6C: Charred Calamites undulatus stem crossing an ignimbrite deposit.

Nigel H. Trewin, Stephen R. Fayers and Lyall I. Anderson, University of Aberdeen. The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems, The Rhynie Chert. Go to: The Rhynie Chert Flora. Polished slab of Rhynie chert showing very well preserved vertical axes of Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii.

V.P. Tverdokhlebov (2004): Buried Equisetites thickets from the Middle Triassic of the south Cis-Urals, Russia. In PDF, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Palaontologie.

D. Uhl and S. Voigt (2014): Ausgewählte Aspekte der Paläontologie des Rotliegenden (Oberkarbon – Unterperm) im Saar-Nahe-Becken (SW-Deutschland) (Exkursion F am 24. April 2014). (Selected aspects of the palaeontology of the Rotliegend (Upper Carboniferous – Lower Permian) in the Saar-Nahe basin (SW-Germany)).
In PDF, Jber. Mitt. oberrhein. geol. Ver., N.F. 96, 105–128.
Note fig. 20:Base of a stem of Sigillaria.

I.M. Van Waveren et al. (2005): Taphonomy, palaeobotany and sedimentology of the Mengkarang Formation (Early Permian, Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia). The Nonmarine Permian: Bulletin 30.

E. Vassio et al. (2008): Wood anatomy of the Glyptostrobus europaeus "whole-plant" from a Pliocene fossil forest of Italy. Abstract.

! D. Wang et al. (2019): The Most Extensive Devonian Fossil Forest with Small Lycopsid Trees Bearing the Earliest Stigmarian Roots. Current Biaology, 29: 2604-2615. See also here (in PDF).
Note figure 6: Reconstruction of Guangdedendron.
! Note figure 7: Reconstruction of Xinhang Forest Landscape.
Also worth checking out: Ältester fossiler Wald Asiens entdeckt. Scinexx, in German.

Jun Wang et al. (2012): Permian vegetational Pompeii from Inner Mongolia and its implications for landscape paleoecology and paleobiogeography of Cathaysia. In PDF, PNAS. See also:
Ash-covered forest is "Permian Pompeii" (S. Perkins, Nature).
Penn researcher helps discover and characterize a 300-million-year-forest.
The Lost Forest.

J. Watson (1983): Two Wealden species of Equisetum found in situ. PDF file, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 28: 265-269.

J. Watson and K.L. Alvin (1976): Silicone rubber casts of silicified plants from the Cretaceous of Sudan. PDF file, Palaeontology, 19: 641–650.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

M. Wei-Haas (2019): Bizarre Fossils Reveal Asia's Oldest Known Forest. National Geographic Australia.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Calamites,
Joggins, Nova Scotia, and Rhynie chert.

H.-H. Xu et al. (2017): Unique growth strategy in the Earth’s first trees revealed in silicified fossil trunks from China. In PDF, PNAS, see also here

J.L. Young et al. (2008): Conservation of an Eocene petrified forest at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument: Investigation of strategies and techniques for stabilizing in situ fossil stumps. PDF file, In: Meyer, H.W., and Smith, D.M., eds., Paleontology of the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation, Colorado. The Geological Society of America, Special Paper 435: 141-157.
See also here.

W.-M. Zhou et al. (2021): An upright psaroniaceous stump and two surrounding pecopteroids from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora. In PDF, Palaeoworld, 30: 451-460.
See also here.
Note figure 2: Morphology and measurements of the Psaronius stump.

E.L. Zodrow et al. (2010): Medullosalean fusain trunk from the roof rocks of a coal seam: Insight from FTIR and NMR (Pennsylvanian Sydney Coalfield, Canada). In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 82: 16-124. Lycophyte stump in situ on PDF page 8.
See also here (abstract).

E. Zodrow and M. Mastalerz (2009): A proposed origin for fossilized Pennsylvanian plant cuticles by pyrite oxidation (Sydney Coalfield, Nova Scotia, Canada). PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences, 84: 227-240.
! See fig. 12: In situ Calamites pith casts, Sydney Coalfield, Nova Scotia.

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