Prominent horizontal striations are characteristic of casts of the pith cavity of cordaites. Freshly exposed specimens of these fossil casts of the inner stem are frequently found encased in a layer of vitreous coal, as was this specimen.
Cordaites stems seem generally to have possessed some of the highest wood mass and density among the various tree fossils of the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) Period.
Rock Type: Siltstone
Formation: Kanawha
Interval: Eagle seam
Age: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 313 million years.
Location: Nicholas County, West Virginia; Ramp Run Surface Mine #1, located
about 12 miles north of Summersville, West Virginia. Turn west off route
19 north of Summersville on Spruce Run Road .
