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Specimen was worked out of a late cretaceous marine formation from about 80 mya. A couple of these pics i wiil post are harder to see detail because they are imprints of the botanical in the clay.

This Monday morning about 10:00, The alarms went down in The Tennessee River Museum,external frame, retaining clips, and glass plate removed to the exhibit which housed Mr. Wade's famously historic Specimen of Amber. That day had been prearranged & was preparatory for a Meeting in Nashville the next day. I was actually allowed to remove the specimen out of the display, privately inspect, take measurements of, and photograph it. What an amazing feeling it was to actually roll it around in my hand and closely view it in detail...I will always remember it. For those who may not know, that piece of Amber was the first recorded specimen in North America (!) To contain an Insect inclusion. As Scientific material, it is over 100 years old...in the Paleobotanical world, it's a Grand Slam. And in my mind, it's historical record achievement combined with it's contribution to science and continuous documented history......well, it surely must be such a unique thing that a monetary value must can't be placed on it...it's like the Liberty Bell man.I would argue it to be an iconic piece of American History at any rate. Here I present to you the best photos I could (sorry about image quality) of the specimen. My eyewitness testimony may perhaps be credible enough to resolve a few issues regarding what the inclusion(s) appears like..to the naked eye at least. Some recordings speak of a "whole" inscect, others say only a wing is contained in it, while it is also recorded to have disarticulated remains in the form of a wing and ,two body sections ( best I remember). I did notice 3 different inclusions in the piece. One of the Two key holders to the cases in the Museum told me he couldn't remember the specimen ever coming out of the case!And it had been so long he couldn't remember how many years it had been on display.this first pic is a historic photograph for Tennessee,if nothing more, but may be elevated to a higher status in the future. It is Gwynneth Marie Welch, my daughter, holding Bruce Wade's specimen in her right hand, and in her left hand lays a specimen of from our recoveries which contains two "whole" insects from the Cretaceous, a first for Tennessee. My expertise in insects being minimal, I can only relate one looks like a nat and the other a mosquito. Other inclusions occurring in the specimen, bubbles, ect. Perhaps they may turn out new to science...a dream come true. At any rate, enjoy these photos of Wade's specimen, they aren't the best perhaps, but there really isn't that many pictures floating around on the internet to view the specimen either. I have another post to make about similar connected events that will also be made today

Last year i collected the following Late Cretaceous Campanian specimens from a lignite layer in Henderson co., TN that has proven itself to be special to me. This is my first and only whole cone....what a sweet lil'baby! Was thinkng A sequoia species, but lets see what the experts say, I treated it w/ a preservative because i had to, the lignite was partially replaced w/ marcasite which would have soon deteoriated if left untreated. The seed & seed pod i'm not sure go together, but the seed sure looks like it may fit in something like that....the seed also stunningly looks like a redwood seed.... what is your take on these excellently preserved items?

Here is a interesting specimen of pet wood, found by myself in Dec of 2013. It's from the late Cretaceous, and i assume it is Palm wood. I've found other palm specimens, but not quite like this one. As,all other examples never had holes this large, about half the diameter of these holes or a fraction smaller than that. Is it Palm wood?

This specimen is late Cretaceous, formation is of marine origin. This perhaps could even be the central part of a depleted cone??? Pollen cone of some sort??? It has a hollow passing through it from end to end. It appears that it cracked somewhat and that surface area then filled in with sand.

This is a paleobotanical i have put the finishing touches on. It is extremely unusual for my area....the only one i actually know of. It simply isn't listed in any of prof. Berry's works, nor any later works by later botanists. It has been shown to 1 paleo botanist and 1 prof. of geology, neither gave me any feedback as to it's possible botanical source. It seems this one is pretty hard to i.d. The specimen comes from a late Cretaceous formation that is marine in origin, and very close to 80 mya. The source layer for this material appears to have been originally deposited as driftwood which in turn became lignite, @ some point iron bearing waters came into contact with the lignite, which in turn covered it over w/ a thin crust- like material. This specimen is fragile, probably as fragile as it was when deposited....if not for the ferro-type crust encasing it, the specimen would have probably never have retained it definition. Truely, i have found tons of lignites, but have never ran up on a specimen of this order. Perhaps it's a new botanic for Tennessee? To me,it looks like araucaria! @ first glance, one would sware it's a cone.....until rolling it over and seeing a branch sticking out the side! This specimen needs an i.d. badly, as,it is perhaps "new" (atleast for Tn, if not more). And the first person to positively identify it will receive credit in a academic paper that is being written. Thanks for taking the time to help.