Is this some sort of fruit?

[Cortash]

I found this fossil some time ago while splitting Shale in Florissant, Co. The furthest I got as for identifying this fossil is "plant, maybe fruit-like thingy", which doesn't look that good on display 

 

Hopefully someone knows what this is, I already ruled out pine needle because of the circular blobs on top.

 

Sorry in advance for wrongly rotated photo's, I already safely secured the fossils so I'm not easily able to take better pictures 

[Cortash]

Also despite the cracks the fossil isn't glued and still consist of one piece, should I be concerned about its safety?

[Rockwood]

I'm not sure what the dark blotches are, but they are often seen near plant fossils. I suspect it may not actually be attached to some kind of stem. It looks as if it may be in a volcanic ash layer. 

And yes, it should be stabilized, but I've seen conflicting advice as to how it should be done so I'll let others handle that.

[Rockwood]

Perhaps I should explain that in most of the photos of berries and cones they are attached to the broader end of the stem. 

[Cortash]

Ooh I see, that's quite cool!

It's definitely possible it's in an ash layer though I can't confirm it, as for the stabilizing, I'll just try to keep it as safe as possible until I've found a proper method.

 

It does indeed seem like the plant is laying on top of rather than attached to the little blobs, I wonder if we'll ever find out what they truly are 

[Rockwood]