Ordovician Plant???

[Bev]

Ordovician

Stewartville member of the Galena Formation

Southeast Minnesota, USA

 

Yes, I know, there are no plants in the Ordovician! But doesn't this LOOK like a plant???

I was out hunting yesterday in the drizzle and found this rock. It had a pretty pattern, I didn't think much of it as it was probably just how the rock split and maybe minerals or dendrite or some such, but I liked the pattern so I brought it home. Upon closer examination it took to looking like a fan shaped plant, the side view seems to show a stem. All probably my imagination! LOL  :-D But it does not hurt to ask if anyone has seen something like this before in the Ordo, right?

Part of my love of fossil hunting is learning new things!  :-D

 

Overview

 

Close up dry

 

Close up dampened slightly for clarity

 

"Stem" portion

 

You guys always want to see the back of the rock...  :-)

 

Side of rock

 

 

So, how crazy am I?  LOL  :-D

[Kane]

To my eye, it appears to be hackle fringe.

[Bev]

1 minute ago, Kane said:

To my eye, it appears to be hackle fringe.

What is "hackle fringe"? Never heard of that before.  :-)

[Kane]

These occur as fractures in rock that can be ribbed or plumose. These form as the result of twisting and mechanical weakness in the structure of the rock. 

[Fossildude19]

Hackle Fringe

[Bev]

7 minutes ago, Kane said:

These occur as fractures in rock that can be ribbed or plumose. These form as the result of twisting and mechanical weakness in the structure of the rock. 

That was my original assessment too, just an interesting split rock. I do have a good imagination though!  :-D  Thanks for the new words to add to my vocabulary.  :-D

 

4 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Hackle Fringe

Thanks Tim for the link! Love learning new stuff!  :-D

 

[Bev]

We used to call these schist, if I remember right. Takes me longer to remember all the time. It is now in my Fossil Foolery teaching garden - yet another story along with fish eggs (oolite) and coral reef (sparkly crick rock as we call it around here).