Odd Plant feature - some ideas needed

[Kato]

I'm piling back in late from a fossil hunt and wanted to get this online.

 

Found in a lower Pennsylvanian formation locally. Typically find cordaites and ferns in this formation. Today, this odd split pair caught my attention. For size reference the small calamite next to the split pair is a little over 5 cm long and 2 cm wide.

 

Although not a great field shot I'm posting it up now in case someone can point me in a solid research direction. Part of me thinks cordaite but the unusual branching features on one side only are quite odd to me.

 

Perhaps some sort of rhizomic structure?

 

I will post a close-up tomorrow when I have access to natural light again.

 

Thanks for any advice or suggestions,

 

Kato

 

 

 

[Rockwood]

Roots ?

Is what the growth form looks like to me.

[coolclay]

Definitely looks like some type of root structure probably from a calamite if that is what you primarily find at this site. Where I hunt in PA we find tons of stigmaria, and various other body parts of different lycopsids, but only rarely do I find calamites structures. Either way playing the matching game with Carboniferous plant parts is always a struggle!

[Rockwood]

34 minutes ago, coolclay said:

probably from a calamite if that is what you primarily find at this site.

I think calamites roots follow the same node/whorl arrangement as the crown.

[paleoflor]

Looks similar to Pinnularia...

 

https://www.paleontica.org/id_system/fossil_id_search.php?zoek=2579-0063.jpg

 

[Rockwood]

6 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I think calamites roots follow the same node/whorl arrangement as the crown.

I thought wrong. Only the rhizome maintains the pattern.

  

[Kato]

Well, the calamite in the original photo is from a sandstone formation above the shale formation bearing this plant impression. Prior to this I had only found cordaites and fern fossils.

 

Here are some close-ups

 

 

 

opposite panel

 

[Rockwood]

Impressive ! I think @paleoflor was right.

[Kato]

On 2/16/2020 at 3:59 PM, Rockwood said:

Impressive ! I think @paleoflor was right.

Hi @Rockwood and @paleoflor 

 

I am convinced this is a root structure, yet after researching pinnularia I am not convinced this is from a calamite. As Rockwood mentioned the calamite rhizome maintains the same pattern.

 

 

I was wondering, given that in this shale I seem to have found only cordaites and neuropteris fern leaves that this root may be a portion of Cordaites Amyelon?

 

After much digging around I seem unable to find fossilized roots of neuropteris or other Pennyslvanian ferns to compare my find to. Maybe you know of somewhere I can continue my research?

 

 

[Rockwood]

Remember, these weren't the little fellows you yank from the vegetable garden. They supported something the size of a tree. The roots branching off would be substantial structures.

[Kato]

1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

Remember, these weren't the little fellows you yank from the vegetable garden. They supported something the size of a tree. The roots branching off would be substantial structures.

Thanks @Rockwood  after a couple of days of researching online I was unable to find anything with the nice level of preservation that the specimen I found has.

 

The collecting area I find this in is quite interesting and I'm beginning to believe it was a transitional area; freshwater to boggy due to the types of preservation and plants to be found. In this shale layer; calamites, cordaites, and neuropteris. The next formation above is sandstone with calamites and lycopsids. 

 

From what I can find the posted specimen seems most like 'Pinnularia Columnaris Artis' and representative of the root, lateral root and rootlets.