This is a superb fossil of the leaves of Araucaria jussieu that is rare in the Cache Creek flora. The genus is now extinct in the Northern hemisphere, though ancestors are widespread in the Southern hemisphere. Commonly called the Northfolk Island Pine, it was a pyramidal tree possible growing 30-40 meters tall, 1.5 meters in girth in girth with a lifespan possibly exceeding 1000 years Extant versions have branches in horizontal whorls of five, in opposing pairs - in all a beautiful tree.

Originating in British Columbia, Canada, this Middle Eocene leaf fossil exemplifies some of the defining events of Paleobiology in the Tertiary.The Eocene was a period when flowering plants continued a massive radiation that began in the Paleocene Epoch. Plants thrived, and with that many animals, as new environmental niches were filled. The first grasses appeared with growth near the root as opposed to the tip, providing a renewable food resource and place of refuge for many animals. Small mammals radiated. Many new species of shrubs, trees and small plants appeared. A variety of trees thrived in a warm Eocene climate, including beech, elm, chestnut, magnolia, redwood, birch, and cedar, and more. The evolution of plants was providing a powerful selective pressure across the entire animal Kingdom, and many new symbiotic systems appeared.