Possible Pennsylanian plants?

[Heartburn]

Hello,

I found these fossils and would like to ID them and I have some questions.  I found them in Iowa, in an area known for Pennsylvanian deposits but also Pleistocene, I believe.

They look somewhat similar to stigmaria from plants like lepidodendron, sigillaria, cordaites, etc. but the pattern is not quite the same.  I wonder if an outer layer has flaked away.  The second picture seems to show an outer layer that has grooves and not scales, and you can see chambers under that layer in the lower right part of the picture that helps.

I've also included some 'bark' fossils we found in the same place.  These were all under a sandstone/limestone shelf and a little lower I found marine fossils.  This was on an exposed shoreline with a gentle slope from which each rock layer peeks out in places from beneath the newer sand.

 

[Fossildude19]

Cropped, rotated, and brightened:

 

[Rockwood]

I can see this being a bifurcation in the growing tip of a stigmaria. 

[Plantguy]

20 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I can see this being a bifurcation in the growing tip of a stigmaria. 

I'm thinking/wondering if those small diamond shaped scars are really leaf scars and not rootlet scars/attachments/Stigmaria and this is a branch? Or if this is a preservation that Im not familiar with. It wont be the first or last time. 

 

 

Regards, Chris 

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, Plantguy said:

'm thinking/wondering if those small diamond shaped scars are really leaf scars and not rootlet scars/attachments/Stigmaria and this is a branch? Or if this is a preservation that Im not familiar with. It wont be the first or last time. 

Sorry. I haven't seen anything like it either so I really can't say. @paleoflor Help! 

[Plantguy]

23 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Sorry. I haven't seen anything like it either so I really can't say. @paleoflor Help! 

No problem! I thought the preservation was very unique and was very curious about the narrow ribbing in the one section so I checked with a researcher and got some great insight....they are branches probably Lepidophloios. more details later. 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[doushantuo]

the branches look lepidophloioid* to me( Omphalophloios is among the possibilities

* basing myself on an image in Hirmer's Handbuch der Paleobotanik

below:

Weiss,, 1903 ( "biseriate Halonial branch " ):

 

Edited November 11 by doushantuo

[Heartburn]

Thank you!  A paleobotanist is helping me as well so I'll post when I get a positive ID, but that picture looks just like it.  Once that happens, these will eventually be kept in the park's visitor center where they have a natural history display.