Plant life on the surface
Plant fossils are quite common in the molar. Often we see larger pieces of branches, twigs and trunks. All of them have drifted out from the coast, which at the time was 100-200 km away. The fossils often bear the marks of the long transportation.
The many plants in the molar give a good picture of what the world around the molar sea looked like: The landscape was dominated by conifers such as Sequoia (redwood) and Araucaria, which today only grow in the southern hemisphere. In addition, swamp cypress, Pinus thomasiana (pine), and a few deciduous trees.
Actual leaves from deciduous trees are rare, but we know of leaves from the naked-seeded Ginkgo (temple tree), the strange broad-leaved Macclintockia, and leaves resembling elm, ash and oak. The latter may have been found in more open landscapes with lakes and streams where many insects lived.
In addition, bamboo-like growths, land ferns, the water fern Salvinia, as well as seeds and fruits from various plants and pollen from more than 100 species have been found.
