Rare plant fossil revealed

The tiny fossil is just 5mm across and was hidden away on the edge of a larger specimen. It shows the leaves of an extinct plant called Annularia galioides and is around 310 million years old (the Upper Carboniferous period).

It was discovered by Bolton Museum’s David Craven in a collection of material collected at Amberswood Opencast mine near Wigan in 1981. David was working through the material identifying the various fossils present when he came upon something he didn’t recognise.

"I immediately knew it was something a little different” said David, "so I got in touch with Chris Cleal at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales".

Dr Cleal is a leading expert in plant fossils of this age.

"It is not very common," said Dr Cleal, "and as far as I can see not recorded from Lancashire. The type apparently came from Yorkshire, however, so it is not totally unexpected for it to be in Lancashire."

Annularia galioides is an extinct Equisetopsid. Today there is only one living genus with the Equisetopsida: Equisetum. This includes the horsetail that is such a pest to many gardeners. But in the Carboniferous era these plants were an important part of the ecosystem, flourishing as huge trees as well as smaller shrubs.

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