New York ? The tree stood tall and spindly in the hot sun some 380 million years ago when something toppled it, maybe a storm or an earthquake.

It fell into water and dammed up in a muddy delta. The mud and sand on top hardened into sedimentary rock, hiding the fossilized tree for eons – until Frank Mannolini came by with a hammer and chisel.

Over the last three years, Mannolini and his fellow New York State Museum fossil hunter Linda VanAller Hernick painstakingly uncovered and curated the tree crown and a separate trunk specimen found in a remote rock quarry in upstate New York.

Their efforts were rewarded with an article in the April 19 issue of the weekly journal Nature describing their finds as significant examples of the oldest known tree: Wattieza. The chipped-away pieces are kept in the museum’s storerooms. A portion of a 28-foot trunk impression, put back together like a jigsaw, lies on a floor.

“It took a lot of glue to put it back together,” Mannolini said, looking over his work, “a lot of patience.”