Saline County has more recorded plant fossil localities than any other southern Illinois county. Fossil plant collecting localities are isolated but numerous in the area southwest of Harrisburg. Mine dumps, such as in the area five or six miles northwest of Eddyville, and many outcrops are available throughout the region. The fossils probably are associated with the Murphysboro, Delwood, Willis, Reynoldsburg, and Battery Rock Coals. One especially good collecting area is on the south tributary of the East Branch Cedar Creek about 6½ miles south of Stonefort. The fossils are found in six feet of shale overlying the Battery Rock Coal horizon. Perry and Jackson Counties Near DuQuoin and Murphysboro, a variety of well preserved plant fossils has been collected from shales overlying both the Herrin (No. 6) Coal and the Murphysboro Coal. Nearly all have come from shaft mines that are not easily accessible to the collector. One currently good outcrop locality for collecting plant fossils from the shale above the Murphysboro Coal is just southeast of Murphysboro. Other Southern Illinois Localities Other collecting localities have been recorded west of McLeansboro in Hamilton County, northwest of Mt. Vernon in Jefferson County, near Grayville in White County, and in the Friendsville area of Wabash County. There is no doubt that careful search will turn up many more. Almost anywhere in the large coal producing areas of southern Illinois plant fossils can be found either in spoil heaps or in outcrops along stream, road, and railroad cuts. The thick Pennsylvanian sandstones that crop out in a belt extending through Gallatin, Saline, Williamson, and Jackson Counties generally contain compressions or replacements of trunks or other woody plant parts. SUGGESTIONS FOR COLLECTING PENNSYLVANIAN PLANTS Where to Look for Plant Fossils Pennsylvanian plants are most commonly found in shales directly overlying coal beds. The shales are believed to be of nonmarine origin like the coals and may contain fossils either in ironstone concretions or on the bedding planes. The shale layers as well as the concretions should be examined. Where the bed directly overlying the coal consists of black slaty shale or limestone containing marine fossils, plant remains are rarely abundant or well preserved. Beneath the coals there generally is an underclay that is interpreted as the material in which the coal forest grew. The underclay is in turn underlain by a sandstone, and both are believed to be mostly nonmarine. Stigmarian axes and “roots” are common in many of the underclays. Plant fossils are common in the sandstone but generally are poorly preserved, except in the local shaly lenses.