An improved technique for separation, bleaching and preparation of slides from fossil leaf compressions

Abstract

Leaf slides prepared from separated Tertiary leaf compressions are valuable tools for taxonomic investigations of fossil leaf assemblages. Slides such as these help considerably in morphological investigations of fossil leaves allowing examination of their minute morphological structures. Procedures for preparing leaf slides from leaf compressions include three stages: separation (isolation) of leaf compressions with use of hydrogen peroxide, and then a two-step method for bleaching leaf compressions and mounting the bleached leaf compressions in glycerine jelly slides. This method has been successfully used for several years, and is especially useful for separating and preparing flat plant remains such as leaves, fruits and seeds, coniferous shoots and fragments of bark. The procedure is recommended for extensive use in palaeobotanical investigations, and has proven especially useful for Tertiary leaf assemblages.