Robert Gastaldo, PhD, will lead an outdoor presentation on Fossil Evidence for Understory Plants, Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 12 p.m., at Merryspring Nature Center.

What is a tree?

"Our perception of forests and the ecosystems they support are based on our surroundings where coniferous gymnosperms and angiosperms dominate today's landscapes," said Merryspring. "But, over the evolutionary history of the plant kingdom, these major groups don't rise to prominence until the early (<215 Ma) and late Mesozoic (~113 Ma), respectively. Prior to then, forests were dominated by spore-bearing and other seed-bearing plant groups which were experiments in Earth history."

This talk will explore concepts of modern and deep time tree architectures, and look at the unique set of circumstances under which a very strange and unusual tree was preserved in the early coal-forming geologic period of New Brunswick, Canada. 

This in-person talk is part of the Summer Talk Series co-sponsored by Reny’s – A Maine Adventure and Camden Riverhouse Hotel. Attendance is free for members; $10 for non-members. 

Merryspring is your community nature center offering walking trails, cultivated gardens, wildlife, and ecology and horticulture educational programs all year round. The park is located at the end of Conway Road, just off of Route 1 in Camden behind Hannaford Shopping Plaza. For more information on this program, please contact info@merryspring.org or call 207-236-2239.