If you imagine the enormous force pressing down on the plant material, and then think of flower pressing, you can easily (or hopefully) see the connection. The layers of bedding acted as pages of a book, flattening and preserving flora from the Carboniferous Period. Because of this, we have a very good fossil record of the abundant plants from the Carboniferous. These are just a few examples (click on the thumbnail to see the full picture).

	Bark of Lepidodenron from Nicholas County, West Virginia
	Calamites cistii from Nicholas County, West Virginia
	Sphenophyllum sp. from Nicholas County, West Virginia
	Alethopteris decurrens (a pterofern) from Nicholas County, West Virginia
	Stem and leaves of Cordaites from Nicholas County, West Virginia