Endocarps of the genus Prunus (family Rosaceae) have been described from early Eocene clay deposits in the Wutu Coal Mine, Shandong Province, China. Endocarps are elliptical or ovoid in lateral view, with a long canal that approaches the apex of the endocarp and contains the ventral vascular bundle. Comparisons with related living and fossil species of Prunus indicate that these endocarps should be assigned to Prunus wutuensis sp. nov. The endocarps from Wutu represent the earliest record of Prunus in Asia. Based on the distribution of fossil Prunus endocarps, the palaeobiogeographic history of the genus is shown on palaeogeographic maps of the Northern Hemisphere. The fossil data suggest that the genus first appeared in the early Eocene of North America and Asia, and then extended to Europe in the middle Eocene.
The paper records four fossil woods, viz., Koompassioxylon elegans Kramer, Baubinia tertiara sp. nov., Bischofia palaeojavanica Awasthi and Laurinoxylon naginimariense sp. nov. from the Tipam sandstone of Assam and Nagaland. These show close resemblance with the woods of extant genera, viz., Koompassia, Baubinia, Bischofia and Lauraceae, respectively. Occurrence of Koompassia in the Indian and southeast Asian Neogene sediments provides further evidence of a close phytogeographical link between Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
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