Washington State Swauk Formation Flower?

[LauraR]

Hi - new here, primarily to seek help in ID'ing this.  I apologize that this isn't the best picture - but we are wondering if we've found a flower vs. a leaf?  This was found at Old Blewett in Wa State - so part of the Swauk Formation I believe? Thanks to anyone that can shed some light! 

[Fossildude19]

Welcome to the Forum.

Unfortunately, the picture is very blurry. 

Better pics from a bit further away, with some scale in the shot, in bright sunlight might be best. 

Regards,

[abyssunder]

" Leaf impressions (Fig. 8) are abundant in fi ne-grained Chuckanut Formation strata. Floristic diversity is so great that almost every collecting site yields new taxa. Subtropical rainforest paleoflora is typical of the Bellingham Bay and Slide Members.
Lowland conifers such as Taxodium and Glyptostrobus are common, in association with the tree fern Cyathea, and a diverse assortment of flowering plants. Angiosperm remains include taxa whose modern descendents are found in Asia and Central America, as well ancient forms of plants that continue to flourish in North America (e.g., Alnus, Hydrangea, and Platanus). Chuckanut Formation plant fossils have not been studied in detail. Pabst (1968) described horsetail, conifer, and fern species, but relatively few of the flowering plants have been identified (Mustoe and Gannaway, 1997; Mustoe, 2002a). Permineralized wood is rare, but molds and casts of driftwood are abundant in sandy point bar deposits. " - Geology and paleontology of the early Tertiary Chuckanut Formation

 

Picture isn't quite good, but, as far as I can see, the plant material looks like some kind of conifer, maybe something like Glyptostrobus

 

Picture from CSÁSZÁR G., KÁZMÉR M., ERDEI B. & MAGYAR I. (2009).- A possible Late Miocene fossil forest PaleoPark in Hungary.- In: LIPPS J.H. & GRANIER B.R.C. (eds.), PaleoParks - The protection and conservation of fossil sites worldwide.- Carnets de Géologie / Notebooks on Geology, Brest, Book 2009/03, Chapter 11 (CG2009_BOOK_03/11)

[LauraR]

oh interesting! hadn't thought of the cone of a conifer - though I knew conifers were abundant - duh!  Also interesting that flowers were abundant but that not all in this formation have been identified.  Maybe we've discovered something new

 

I will work on getting better pics!  Thanks!

[Plantguy]

Yep, would like to see more pictures with some type of scale if you get the chance. Regards, Chris