Two Red Fossil Hickory Leaves (Carya) - Montana

These are two fossil hickory leaves collected from the Fort Union Formation of Montana. Both are of the species Carya antiquorum and measure 5.4" and 4" long. The color of the rock and the leaves is rather unusual and different than most of the leaves seen from the Fort Union Formation. They were collected from a locality where a fire in a nearby coal seam "cooked" the rock at sometime in the past. This changed the color and gave it a chalky texture.

There are some areas of touch-up restoration on the surface of the leaves where there was some flaking onto the negative. An acrylic display stand is included.