Plant & Petrified Wood Fossils

The plant fossil record is as crucial in understanding the prehistoric world as fossilized remains of dinosaurs. These fossils of flora tell a great deal about the nature of Earth's early atmosphere and are essential for paleobotanists in piecing together this existence.

The rigorous study of prehistoric plants, known as the science of paleobotany, developed in the latter half of the 18th century with the research of Bohemian scientist Kaspar Maria von Sternberg. Sternberg's work resulted in immediate interest in prehistoric plant life, encouraging collectors and museum curators to clamor for well-preserved specimens of these prehistoric species.

Just like their dinosaur contemporaries, plants and trees were preserved from the prehistoric era in the Earth's rock bed through a variety of conditions. Some of these fossils were mere imprints of the plant preserved on the surface of the stone. Others, like petrified wood, involved the replacement of the organic plant tissues with stone over the course of many years. What these fossils reveal is both the remarkable diversity of plant life in prehistoric climates and the early ancestors of some of the plant species still seen today.

Quick Facts

• Paleobotany is closely aligned with the sister science of palynology, the study of fossilized plant spores
• The most common type of plant fossil found is known as an adpression, which simply means the impression of former plant life upon a stone surface
• Some of the largest petrified trees were discovered in Thailand in 2013. The petrified grove appeared to have thrived more than 800,000 years ago