2.7" Red Fossil Dogwood Leaf (Cornus) - Montana

This is a 2.7" fossil dogwood (Cornus hyperborean) leaf from the Fort Union Formation near Glendive, Montana. The color of the rock and the leaf is rather unusual and different than most of the leaves seen from the Fort Union Formation. It was collected from a locality where a fire in a nearby coal seam "cooked" the rock at sometime in the past. This changed the color and gave it a chalky texture.

There may be some touchups to the surface of the leaf where some of it flaked onto the negative during collection. This specimen includes an acrylic display stand.