Lycopod fossil

3D Model

This fossil is a mould of part (probably a branch) of a plant belonging to the Giant Club Moss flora (Lycopods). The particular species is Leptophleum australe which is common in late Devonian - early Carboniferous strata of Australia. I am unsure to the exact location it was collected, but it is likely from somewhere in the Tamworth Belt forearc basin of the Southern New England Orogen. The host rock here is a carbonaceous shale, in keeping with the swamp habitat of lycopods.

The scale-like patterning on the branch is produced as the branch thickens and the leaves fall off, producing a leaf-base scar (or ‘cushion’). At the top (in initial view) of each scar is a notch where the leaves were attached.