Who: Maple Seed
Lagerstätte: Florissant Formation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado
What: This is a maple seed preserved in shale at Florssiant Fossil Beds NM. The park is well known for its amazingly preserved insects and plants which are usually quite rare in the fossil record. It dates to the Eocene about 34 million years ago. Plant fossils like redwoods, hickory, elms, and rubber trees indicate that the area was once warm and humid; a far difference from its modern cold and drier climate. These plants were preserve in a lake which had occasional algal blooms. When plants or insects landed on the algal mat, they get entrapped and then fall to the lake’s bottom. The algae holds the leaves together and delicately buries them leaving a thin carbon film.
References
https://www.nps.gov/flfo/index.htm
fossilbonanza.com 