50 million years ago, the Green River Formation comprised an area of more than 25,000 square miles (65,000 sq. km) of interconnected subtropical lakes spread across the current states of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Today, the region of the Green River Formation known as "Fossil Lake" 𒉰boasts some of the most abundant and well-preserved freshwater fossils anywhere in the world.

Finding plant fossils in Fossil Lake is particularly challenging because they rarely have any thickness to detect during excavation. Thus, the only way a plant such as palm frond is discovered is when a layer of rock is fortuitous⛄ly split in just the right place, or if it is exposed in the laboratory as another fossil is being prepared. Because of the size and level of preser𒉰vation of the palm frond found in this pair of plates, it is likely that it came from an ancient palm grove very close to the shore of Fossil Lake.