This is a nice specimen of a Digger Pine (also called the Foothill Pine), Pinus sabiniana near the Lygodium Gulch fossil leaf locality in the Middle Eocene Ione Formation, Amador County, California. Digger Pine is the only conifer native to the acidic, highly mineralized soils of the Ione Chaparral. Image snapped on October 14, 2002.

Please note: All fossil localities in the Ione Formation of Amador County, California, presently occur on private property; explicit permission from the land owners must be secured before collecting fossils there.