Fossil Plants

Marine plants evolved before the Paleozoic; they did not reach land until the Ordovician Period; they were joined by animals in the Devonian Period.

This group includes early algae (stromatolites), leaf and stem impressions, and petrified wood.

“Fossil Dawn Redwood” (technically, Metasequoia occidentalis) – is an extinct species of the still extant genus Metasequoia. The first living relatives of the fossil trees were found in China. Like other sequoias, this tree was originally evergreen, but at some point after its initial evolution it became deciduous. These fossils are from Beaverhead County, Montana.