Joseph Beete Jukes

“ Seeing the general occurrence of the Stigmaria beds beneath those of coal, a proper appreciation of them may become, as it has been already found in some districts, practically useful in tracing the outcrop of beds, especially where the crop of a coal itself may be uncertain, and the thickness of a Stigmaria bed may be considerable, though the latter necessarily, seeing the respective origin of the two, bears no relation to that of any coal which it may support, or be intermingled with. ”

“ The coal-field of South Staffordshire forms no exception to the other coal-fields of Great Britain as regards the occurrence, in certain of its beds, of the peculiar fossil roots known as Stigmaria, in their relative places of growth. ”

“ Mr. Dawes, of Southwick House near Birmingham, who has given so much attention to the fossil botany of the district, considers that all the coal-beds in it are based on Stigmaria beds. [10]
In studying these beds care is needed in seeing that the rootlets of the Stigmaria really diverge from the main root, and permeate the bed in which they may be discovered, in the manner in which the roots of the water lily (as pointed out by Dr. Hooker) and those of many other aquatic plants permeate the silt beneath still waters. ”