Fossil Flora Plate (Metasequoia, Cunninghamia sp.) - McAbee, BC

This is a very nice 5.7" wide Metasequoia fossil plate from the McAbee fossil beds in British Columbia, Canada. Metasequoia is also known as Dawn Redwood and was thought to be extinct until a living population was discovered in China. This is a very interesting specimen that contains a single branchlet measuring 0.8" long, as well as a branchlet of the genus Cunninghamia measuring 1.1"

The Tranquille Shale of southern British Columbia was formed during the Eocene, about 50 million years ago: as diatoms in the lake bloomed and died in an ancient lake covering the region, fossils were preserved in the lakebed in accumulating fine layers of silt. In 2012 the McAbee Fossil Bed was acquired by the Canadian government and declared a Canadian Heritage Site, so no additional material will be coming to the market from the site.

Disclaimer: We are not paleobotanists, and as such our identification of these leaves may not be 100% accurate. We try our best to provide the most accurate result, but occasionally we fall short.