Petrified Pennsylvanian Age Plants of Eastern Ohio

Abstract

The recent (1975) discovery of coal-ball petrifactions in the Duquesne and Ames coals of the Conemaugh Group provides an opportunity to make detailed studies of abundant and well preserved Pennsylvanian age fossil plants. Material from these beds was collected at a single location west of Steubenville, Ohio. Remains assignable to all the major groups of coal swamp plants were present, with the psaroniaceous tree ferns and medullosan seed ferns most abundantly represented. To date, 50 distinct taxa of plant remains have been discovered.