Oldest fossil trees reveal the roots of forests

The earliest fossilised trees, dating back 386 million years, have been found at an abandoned quarry in New York.  Scientists believe the forest they belonged to was so vast it originally stretched beyond Pennsylvania. This discovery in Cairo, New York, is thought to be two or three million years older than what was previously the world's oldest forest at Gilboa, also in New York State. The findings throw new light on the evolution of trees.