Wooden Cocoon?

[Loganbro1911]

Found in South Eastern Bartholomew County Indiana.. My younger brothers (Ages 8-9) were messing around digging random holes back in the 17 Acres of Forrest behind our house and came across this.. It looks almost like a Mud Wasp Nest but it's solid wood instead of dirt.. Maybe some type of Root? I don't think it's a fossil but figured it couldn't hurt to ask someone else who knows way more about this stuff than myself.. Any help identifying it would be greatly appreciated! Little bros think it's a dinosaur tooth (LOL)..

 

Dimensions..

Length-(8cm)
Width-(3cm)
Height(1.5cm)

[Fossildude19]

Huh.  That's odd. 

It does look a bit like some kind of root structure. 

 

Maybe some of the plant people will weigh in?

 

@paleoflor  @fiddlehead  @Plantguy  @nala  @Rockin' Ric

[Mahnmut]

Hi Loganbro1911 and welcome to the forum.

 

 I have found very similar pieces at the beach. My conclusion was that they are what is left after soft wood surrounding a harder knothole (thats what the insertions of branches in a tree are called in English, isnt it?) erodes away. I kept them for their beautiful structure.

 

Best Regards,

J

[Plantguy]

7 hours ago, Mahnmut said:

Hi Loganbro1911 and welcome to the forum.

 

 I have found very similar pieces at the beach. My conclusion was that they are what is left after soft wood surrounding a harder knothole (thats what the insertions of branches in a tree are called in English, isnt it?) erodes away. I kept them for their beautiful structure.

 

Best Regards,

J

Yep I agree with J.

I remember finding similar knotty structures in dead pine trees as a kid as we were looking for/dissecting the dead tree in search of termites and other interesting insects/grubs/beetles/snakes/centipedes/scorpions within....My curiosity with internal workings started early--

Not sure if the knotty structure is strictly a conifer feature or confined to the trunk/branches or could also show up in the root/trunk base.  

Tim or the others probably can tell you. Very neat find! 

Regards, Chris 

[Rockwood]

Forty years of firewood splitting and wood working here, and, I concur. 

[Tetradium]

21 hours ago, Mahnmut said:

Hi Loganbro1911 and welcome to the forum.

 

 I have found very similar pieces at the beach. My conclusion was that they are what is left after soft wood surrounding a harder knothole (thats what the insertions of branches in a tree are called in English, isnt it?) erodes away. I kept them for their beautiful structure.

 

Best Regards,

J

more specific driftwood lol. I had found one a very long ago that literally look just like an elephant (two pieces crossed each other almost at right angles and fused. 

[Rockwood]

35 minutes ago, Tetradium said:

more specific driftwood lol. I had found one a very long ago that literally look just like an elephant (two pieces crossed each other almost at right angles and fused. 

That would most likely be a root. I have seen instances where a tree branch grated naturally to another part of the same tree. The process is internally rampant every spring at latitudes where the cold wind fractures frozen trunks. Frost heaved ground no doubt takes a worse tole on roots if anything.

[Tetradium]

25 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

That would most likely be a root. I have seen instances where a tree branch grated naturally to another part of the same tree. The process is internally rampant every spring at latitudes where the cold wind fractures frozen trunks. Frost heaved ground no doubt takes a worse toll on roots if anything.

True. The piece of driftwood I was saying about? From Oregon beach more than 30 years ago. 

[Loganbro1911]

Thanks to all!