Rock Type: Gray shaleFormation: Allegheny
Interval: 5-Block seam
Age: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 303 million years.
Rock Type: Gray shale
Formation: Allegheny
Interval: 5-Block seam
Age: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 303 million years.
These long, spindle-shaped leaves of lepidodendron occur along the trunk and large branches. There seems to be a direct relationship between the length of the leaves with the size of the tree appendage they were attached to-- the smallest leaves (less than 1/4-inch) being on the tips of the branches and the longest leaves (up to 24-inches or more) are found on the trunk. Leaf scars like the form lepidodendron aculeatum are common and distinctive features where long leaves attached to the branches and trunk.
Lepidodendron must have looked like a large hairy tree, as it was covered in needles along every square inch of it's surface that could receive light.
Location: Wayne County, West Virginia; Rollem Fork Surface Mine #2, located about 8.5 miles west of Atenville, West Virginia. Take Route 68 west for 3 miles, turn left on Route 68 / 1 (Francis Creek Road) and drive approximately 6 miles. Just before Frances Creek empties into Kiah Creek a dirt road branches off to the right up a small hill. Site is 1 mile up this dirt road on the right.
