7.3" Permian Petrified Tree Fern (Tietea) Slab - Brazil

Tietea singularis is a species of tree fern found predominantly in Brazil. They grew in late Carboniferous to early Permian forests, reaching heights of 12 meters (about 40 feet).

They are part of the ancient fern family Marattiaceae, whose extant members often have large fronds and fleshy root stocks. Tietea's unique characteristics are often revealed upon slicing and polishing trunk sections: their cross-sections reveal blobbish bundles of vascular tissue, used for nutrient transport, surrounded by sheaths of lignified (woody) cells. Specimens from the state of Tocantins in Brazil often include rich red-orange colorations, likely caused by iron impurities during fossilization.