Pinus driftwoodensis facts for kids

Pinus driftwoodensis was an extinct species of conifer, a type of tree that makes cones, like modern pines. It belonged to the pine family. We only know about this ancient pine from early Eocene rocks found in south-central British Columbia, Canada. Scientists found a fossil cone from a female tree, along with wood, needles, and pollen cones, all preserved in a special type of rock called chert. P. driftwoodensis was one of the first pine species found that was preserved in this way, and the second from the Okanagan highlands area.

History and Classification

Discovering an Ancient Pine

Scientists found Pinus driftwoodensis in only one place. This special spot is called the type locality. It's at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park, near Smithers, British Columbia. The rocks here are part of the Ootsa Lake Group.

How Old Is It?

The rocks where P. driftwoodensis was found are very old. Scientists used a method called Uranium-lead radiometric dating to find their age. They found the rocks are about 51.77 million years ago. This means the tree lived during the Early Eocene epoch. The area where the fossils were found used to be a lake in an upland region. The chert blocks were found in layers of coal and chert within the shales.

The First Discovery

The description of P. driftwoodensis comes from a single type specimen. This main fossil is called the holotype specimen S5446. You can find it today in the University of Alberta paleobotanical collections in Edmonton, Alberta. This special fossil is a block of chert. It holds the female cone, two types of needles, parts of branches, and several small pollen cones.

Who Described It?

A paleobotanist named Ruth A. Stockey studied these fossils. She worked at the University of Alberta. In 1983, she officially described P. driftwoodensis for the first time. Her description was published in a science magazine called Botanical Gazette.

Description

What Did It Look Like?

The female cone of Pinus driftwoodensis was rounded. It had a pointed tip. The cone was about 3 to 4 3|-|4|cm|in long and 2.7 2.7|cm|in wide. The very bottom of the cone was missing when it was preserved. But scientists think only about 1 1|cm|in was missing.

How It Was Different

P. driftwoodensis was different from another ancient pine called Pinus arnoldii, which lived at the same time. The main difference was in their "pith cells." The pith is the soft tissue in the center of a plant stem or cone. P. arnoldii had strong, tough pith cells. These are found in some modern pine groups like Contortae and Sylvestres. But P. driftwoodensis had softer, more common pith cells. These are found in other modern pine groups like Australes and Ponderosae.

Cone Scales

The scales on the cone were about 1.8 1.8|cm|in high and 1.2 1.2|cm|in wide. They had a diamond-like shape. Each scale had a raised, rounded bump at its tip called an umbo. These bumps did not have spines. On the top surface of each scale, there were two ovules. These were like tiny seeds, about 2 2|mm|in across.