The first project phytolith identification is in! Dr. Harper Dine identified a spheroid echinate phytolith from Arecaceae (the palm family) after processing the first batch of Bladen Legacy sediments. A palm (Asytrocaryum mexicanum) was one of the most abundant trees in the 2024 botanical plots, including the botanical plot that this phytolith came from, so this identification goes hand-in-hand with ecological observations on the ground.
Phytoliths are produced by plants within and between their cells. Made up of biogenic silica, these structures can often survive in soils long after the plant that produced them has decayed.