Development of Paleobotany in 

 the Illinois Basin 



Tom L Phillips, Hermann W. Pfeffer/corn, and Russel A. Peppers 



ABSTRACT 



Plant compressions and impressions, petrified plant re- 

 mains (particularly those in coal balls), and fossil spores from 

 the Illinois Basin have proved valuable subjects of paleobotany 

 studies for more than 100 years. In the late 1850s, LeoLesque- 

 reux first began describing compression floras during stratigraphic 

 studies made in cooperation with the Geological Surveys of Illi- 

 nois, Indiana, and Kentucky. A second surge of interest in plant 

 compressions began with the establishment of the present Illinois 

 State Geological Survey in 1905 when David White and others con- 

 tinued Lesquereux's work. 



Coal balls found in the Illinois Basin by G. H. Cady in 

 1922 and described by A. C. Noe in 1923 led to the first biologi- 

 cally oriented studies of fossil plants in Illinois. Coal-ball pet- 

 rifactions are still the major source of research material forpale- 

 obotanists in the Illinois Basin. 



Fossil spores of the Illinois Basin were investigated for 

 the first time in the early 1930s by L. C. McCabe, O. J. Henbest, 

 and J. M. Schopf of the Illinois Geological Survey. Palynology, 

 as this branch of paleobotany was later called, proved to be a 

 valuable tool in stratigraphy. 



Present paleobotanical work in the Illinois Basin is largely 

 concerned with fossils of Pennsylvanian age and includes studies 

 in biostratigraphy, plant evolution and ontogeny, and ecological 

 implications of the floras. 



INTRODUCTION 



Paleobotany is the study of plant life of the past. The orientation of paleo- 

 botanical studies varies considerably, depending on the age of the fossiliferous 

 rocks, the mode of preservation, and, of course, the paleobotanist and his objectives. 



