A Jurassic flower bud from China

Abstract

AbstractAngiosperms may be distinguished from their gymnosperm peers by their flowers, and thus a flower is a good proxy of fossil angiosperms. However, flowers and their parts are usually too frail to be preserved in the fossil record. This makes the origin of angiosperms and their flowers the foci of controversy in botany. Eliminating such botanical controversies can only be achieved by studying related plant fossils. Applying routine scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) technologies, we document a fossil flower bud, Florigerminis jurassica gen. et sp. nov., from the Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. This fossil includes not only a leafy branch but also physically connected fruit and flower bud. The developmentally interpolated existence of a blooming flower between the flower bud and mature fruit in Florigerminis suggests that angiosperm flowers were present in the Jurassic, in agreement with recent botanical progress. Florigerminis jurassica underscores the presence of angiosperms in the Jurassic and demands a rethinking of angiosperm evolution.