The name artisia horizontalis_, is the form-genus assigned to this stem of the Cordaites tree-- a lineage of ancient tree with has no living modern decendants. In this case like many others, form-genus names were assigned to the various of plant fossils of the Carboniferous Period before it could be proven which tree species they actually belonged to. There is no Artisia _tree.
This is a fossilized stem of the tree Cordaites, representing the pattern of the inner pith cavity.
Rock Type: Sandstone
Formation: Kanawha
Interval: Alma seamAge: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 309 million years.
Location: Nicholas County, West Virginia; Laurel Creek, located north of Gauley River between Lockwood and Swiss.
