Carboniferous Plant Fossil From Colorado

Description

Just outside of Delta, Colorado is 25 Mesa, so called because it is 25 miles from the Colorado-Utah border. Atop this mesa I found a large group of fossilized plant stems. These appear to be a form of Calamite, a Carboniferous (the era that brought us coal) plant. These were swamp plants that could reach up to 180 ft. high.
When living the stems (trunks?) were generally circular. This piece shows a fair amount of deformation. It has bark all the way around and shows some of the internal cellular structure.
3.25 x 2 x 1 inches, 4.8 ounces.
3-1