Carboniferous Fossilized Lycopod Root – Stigmaria (Auction 2026-06-05, Lot 130A)

$224.88

Carboniferous to Permian, Fossil Lycopsid Root (Stigmaria), ca. 323 to 254 million years ago. A fragment of a vanished swamp forest, this fossilized Stigmaria preserves the underground lifeline of ancient lycopsid trees that once dominated the Carboniferous landscape. Its elongated form is patterned with a measured array of circular scars, arranged in faint spirals across the surface – each marking the former attachment of root-like appendages that spread through waterlogged soils. The name, from the Greek stigma or ‘mark’, refers to these distinctive impressions, while ficoides alludes to their fig-like shape. These scars record the growth of complex rhizomorphic systems that anchored towering species such as Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, some reaching heights of up to 50 meters. Though only a portion of the original organism, Stigmaria belongs to a form genus assigned to the rooting structures of these extinct trees. Size: 15.5″ L x 4.6″ W (39.4 cm x 11.7 cm)

Most commonly associated with the coal forests of the Carboniferous, Stigmaria persists into the Permian record, offering a rare and tangible link to the rise and decline of Earth’s earliest great forests – ecosystems whose remains would, in time, become the coal seams that fueled the modern world.

Provenance: private Texas, USA Collection, acquired April 2023; ex-George’s, Cooper City, Florida, USA

Condition: Repaired from two large pieces with break line visible. Polished in modern times with lacquer in areas. Remains of old collection label on one side