Fine Paleocene Alder Leaf Fossil from Fort Union Formation

Description: The Fort Union Formation comes from the first geological epoch to follow the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Fort Union Formation covers much of Montana, eastern Wyoming, and the western Dakotas. It contains an extensive amount of minable coal, and has an extensive flora. It was a flora indicative of a lowland, sub-tropical to temperate climate. The depositional environment was both fluvial and lacustrine, with the fluvial deposits holding the most coal. This is a fine example of an alder leaf, complete including the petiole, overlain by a second example.