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![Magnified pice of silica from a blam tree is sor tof soccer-ball like](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/03/04201408/Phytoliths-from-palm-tree.jpg)
Phytoliths from palm tree
Phytoliths, these two from a palm tree, are microscopic bits of silica that that are all that remain of plant tissue once the plant dies and decays. Phytoliths can remain in soils for millions of years as a record of what kind of plants grew at a site.Photo Credit: U of Washington