OLDEST PETRIFIED FOREST GOLDRING 321 



furrowed and wrinkled or even just roughened, some of which is 

 undoubtedly due to shrinkage in preservation ; but in either case the 

 outer surface appears to be composed of layers of sclerenchyma 

 forming a kind of bark, which in the living tree probably had a 

 covering of ramentum or fibers. The underside of the base of the 

 stumps (see pi. 6, fig. 2) is quite strikingly furrowed in a radiate 

 manner, and in some specimens a depression is seen at the center. 

 The base as well as the sides has the outer zone or covering of 

 sclerenchyma layers above which is the zone several inches thick 

 varying according to the size of the stumps, of interlacing scleren- 

 chyma strands. 



The interior structure of the trunk for the present remains un- 

 known. A transverse section of one of the smaller trunks shows 

 toward the center an irregular, thin ring of sclerenchyma tissue and 

 within this ring and to some extent outside are irregularly scattered 

 strands of sclerenchyma tissue. The scattered sclerenchyma strands 

 may be due entirely to some maceration before preservation; but 

 the ring itself appears to be a definite zone, part of a missing central 

 cylinder of strengthening tissue. Transverse sections of larger 

 trunks were made, but nothing was found. Success in this line can 

 probably only be attained when a petiole or rachis of a frond is 

 found preserved in such a condition that thin sections can be made 

 for study. 



In the earlier collections specimens of roots were found, but no 

 stumps were taken with roots attached. This brought forth criti- 

 cism of our statement that the stumps were buried in sihi. The dis- 

 covery in the spring and early summer of 1923 of specimens showing 

 the underside of the tree bases with roots attached (see pi. 7) finally 

 settled the question. The roots are long and straplike and radiate 

 from the margin of the base. One specimen was obtained under 

 difficulties and set up in concrete to form a museum exhibit, through 

 the kindness of Mr. Henri Marchand, who was then working on the 

 Gilboa restoration. The slab, as exhibited, measures 5 feet 7 inches 

 by 6 feet 4 inches. The base of the stump is about 14 inches in 

 diameter, and the radiating roots, from one-half inch or less in 

 width to around an inch, extend without termination as far as the 

 rock is preserved. From a study of this and other specimens ife ap- 

 pears that the roots were undivided. Much larger specimens were 

 found in the quarry with roots at least 9 feet long, but it was im- 

 practicable to get them out. The museum specimen is in sandstone, 

 seen from the under side; but other specimens were found on the 

 dumps some time later, showing the impression of the root base in 

 the shale bed beneath the sandstone, often with the radiating roots 

 well shown. The shale bed, as pointed out previously, represeiJts 

 the muds in which the trees grew. 



