''Walchia'' is a primitive fossil

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

found in upper Pennsylvanian (

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

) and lower Permian (about 310-290 Mya) rocks of Europe and North America. A forest of

in-situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

Walchia tree-stumps is located on the Northumberland Strait coast at Brule,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Besides the ''Walchia'' forest, fallen tree trunks, and leaflet impressions, the forest, fossil-rich layer contains numerous, 4-legged,

tetrapod A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...

fossil trackways. Walchia

Individual species

''W. hypnoides'': from the schists of Lodeve; also copper slates of the Zechstein in Mansfeld.

Monuran trackways

At the same

time period The categorization of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization.Adam Rabinowitz. And king It’s about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancient World Data''. Study of the Ancient universe Papers, 2 ...

of 290 mya, another species was making fossil trackways, now preserved in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

; ''Walchia'' leaflets are found in the same fossil layers. The Monuran trackways were made by

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

, wingless insects called monurans, (meaning "one-tail"); the insects' means of locomotion was hopping, then walking. These 290 mya layers contain footprints of the large ''

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ; ) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian period, around 295–272 million years ago. With most species measuring long and ...

'', large/small raindrop impact marks, and also these fossil trackways of insects.

References

External links

;General articles:
Chemosystematic and microstructural investigations--(including ''Walchia'')Book preview-(1854)--''W. hypnoides'' discussion
;Walchia Fossil examples:
Graphic of ''W. piniformis'' branchlets
from James D. Dana, "Manual of Geology
Photo-High ResArticle
– www.news.ucdavis.edu--"A Bumpy Shift from Icehouse to Greenhouse", Fossil from Smithsonian. ''Walchia'' went from the 'Uplands' to the lower basins-(floodplain forest region of Brule, Nova Scotia).
Photo-High Res--4 cm width Leaflet-(Order Voltziales)
– www.colby.edu-"Carboniferous Paleoecological Scenarios" ;Walchia fossils, with Monuran trackways:
"The Footfalls and Bellyflops of Permian Insects"
– (from the Robledo Mountains of New Mexico) {{Taxonbar, from=Q3185543 Voltziales Conifer genera Prehistoric gymnosperm genera Carboniferous plants Permian plants Fossil trackways Carboniferous life of Europe Carboniferous life of North America Permian life of Europe Permian life of North America Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Paleozoic life of Nunavut Paleozoic life of Prince Edward Island Pennsylvanian plants Pennsylvanian first appearances Permian extinctions