In search of the first flower: A jurassic angiosperm, archaefructus, from northeast china
Angiosperm fruiting axes were discovered from the Upper Jurassic of China. Angiosperms are defined by carpels enclosing ovules, a character demonstrated in this fossil. This feature is lacking in other fossils reported to be earliest angiosperms. The fruits are small follicles formed from conduplicate carpels helically arranged. Adaxial elongate stigmatic crests are conspicuous on each carpel. The basal one-third of the axes bore deciduous organs of uncertain affinities. No scars of subtending floral organs are present to define the individual fertile parts as floral units, but the leaf-like structures subtending each axis define them as flowers. These fruiting axes have primitive characters and characters not considered primitive.
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G. Sun, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, China. D. L. Dilcher, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. S. Zheng, Shenyang Institute of Geology and Mi.
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Zheng
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Zhou
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