> So were you wrong when you said they [stigmarian axial root systems] were absent when > you meant 'rare'?
Not exactly. They are absent from my own personal observations of coal
seams in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama. I am assuming
that because they are reported in the literature and because I have been
told of stigmarian root systems, that they do exist. Gastaldo had some
pictures of stigmarian roots in his paper (p 105) from Blount County,
Alabama. I visited the site but could find no stigmarian roots in the
underclay beneath the coal seams. If you will notice, there is not a
coal seam in the photograph. I wrote to Bob and asked him where the
photographed roots were in relation to the coal seams. I drew a sketch
of the mine highwall and the two coal seams and asked him to show me
where the photograph was in relation to the coal. I also copied a
portion of the topo map for the subject area and asked him to mark on
the map where exactly the photograph was taken. He wrote back and said
they hadn't worked in that area in maybe ten years; he completely
ignored my questions.
Bill