The Joggins Fossil Cliffs

Fossil Flora

Some of the trees found at Joggins were probably over 30 m (98 ft) high. Lycopods, or scale trees, had scaly-looking bark that is often found fossilised. Their roots, with small round holes where the rootlets were once attached, are also common fossils, called Stigmaria. Lepidodendron sp. and Sigillaria sp. are two types of lycopods.

Calamites tree Calamites sp. were straight and not as tall, perhaps 10 m (33 ft) high. They seem to have grown in dense stands, like bamboo. Calamites trunks were segmented and a circle of small branches grew at the joints. Parallel lines on the segments running up and down the tree make this an easy fossil to identify.

There are no Calamites or lycopods today, but smaller relatives have survived: the little horsetail Equisetum sp. (also called scouring rush) is a descendent of Calamites, and club mosses are modern-day lycopods.

Sphenophyllum fern The undergrowth seems to have been mostly plants called seed ferns, whose leaves look very much like the leaves of modern ferns. Alethopteris sp. and Neuropteris sp. are among the most commonly found fossils at Joggins.

Fossilised Sphenophyllum sp. have also been found. This plant, whose leaves radiate out from the stem at uniform intervals, was probably a climbing vine.


Tree Stump Animals	Important Sites Home	Final Note