Carya washingtonensis
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| Carya washingtonensis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Juglandaceae |
| Genus: | Carya |
| Section: | Carya sect. Carya |
| Species: | C. washingtonensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Carya washingtonensis Manchester, 1987 | |
Carya washingtonensis is an extinct species of hickory nut in the walnut family Juglandaceae. The species is solely known from the Miocene sediments exposed in Kittitas County near Ellensburg, Washington.[1]
The species was described from the three nut specimens,[1] all found at the no-longer-accessible Badger Pocket-Squaw Creek locality south of Ellensburg, which is now part of the Yakima Training Center. This locality is thought to be an extension of the Ginkgo Flow basalts, notable for the fossils found at Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. The Ginkgo Flow, part of the Wanapum basalts is the oldest segment of the Frenchman Springs Member, dating to around 15.6 million years old, or the Langhian stage of the Miocene.[2]
The nuts were originally discovered as a single silicified,[1] opalized[3] mass of well over fifty nuts found in a petrified Platanus stump.[1] The mass was discovered in the 1940s by Carl Clinesmith but as of 1987 the mass was lost and Steven Manchester presumed it was disaggregated with the individual nuts disseminated to various collections.[1] However it is reported in a 1995 Washington Geology article by Wesley Wehr the specimen was, at that time, on display at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, part of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. At least a portion of the mass is still preserved in the collections at the Burke Museum as specimen number "UWBM38700".[2]