Inside stigmaria ficoides is a vascular tube which runs longitudinally down the length of the root, believed to be a transport structure for fluids and nutrients.
Commonly, these tubes are visible on the broken ends of stigmaria specimens. This unusual specimen allows a clear view of this structure in a cut-away view.
The slightly concave external furrow on the far left end of this specimen
is a common feature of stigmaria. In cross-section, the vascular tube is
usually located assymetrically off-center in the direction of this longitudinal
concave feature.
Rock Type: Sandstone
Formation: Kanawha
Interval: Coalburg seam
Age: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 307 million years.
Location: Nicholas County, West Virginia; Ramp Run Surface Mine #1, located about 12 miles north of Summersville, West Virginia. Turn west off route 19 north of Summersville onto Spruce Run Road. Follow it about 7 miles. It is now mostly reclaimed, but collecting is still good along the exposed rock rip-rap outslope of the sediment ditch along Buffalo Creek.
