title: Yuhania: a unique angiosperm from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China.
abstract: Despite increasing claims of pre-Cretaceous angiosperms, whether there really are angiosperms in the Jurassic is apparently still an open question for many people before further evidence is available. This question can only be answered by studying more Jurassic plant fossils. Here we report a fossil angiosperm,Yuhania daohugouensisgen. et sp. nov, from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The plant includes connected stem, leaves, flowers, aggregate fruits, fruitlets, and seeds within fruitlets. The leaves are helically arranged along the curving stem, linear in shape, with 5-6 parallel veins. The aggregate fruit is pedicellate, composed of over 20 carpels/fruitlets helically arranged. Each fruitlet encloses a seed. The reproductive organs in various stages are found in the same plant, allowing us to understand the development ofYuhania. The occurrence ofYuhaniain the Middle Jurassic re-confirms the Jurassic history for angiosperms that has been suggested by other independent research and adds to the on-going study on the early evolution of angiosperms.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Orchid Conservation and Utilization, National Orchid Conservation Center of China and Orchid Conservation & Research Center of Shenzhen , Shenzhen 518114 , China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Jian
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4390-3878
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS , Nanjing 210008 , China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4053-5515
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Angiosperm; China; Jurassic; Yuhania; evolution; fossil; origin