Antiquity and migratory paths of angiosperms in India

Abstract

In India the earliest angiospermous plants are known in the form of pollen/fruit or ?flower from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) of Rajmahal flora. Unfortunately, the Lower and Middle Cretaceous records of angiosperms from India are very poor as compared to those in other continents. The definite records of angiosperms started appearing from the Lameta flora considered as Maastrichtian in age. During the Upper Maastrichtian-Danian they became the most dominant element of the flora. An influx of Southeast Asian elements could only be noticed in the beginning of the Neogene. During upheaval of the Himalayas, temperate angiosperms which were growing luxuriantly in the nearby areas of Tibet and Southwest China, invaded the Himalayan part of India under the prevailing favourable conditions.

Circular or Spherical Vessels in the Fossil Record

“…During a re-examination of the anatomy of fossil woods from the Deccan Traps of central India from the late Cretaceous /early Paleocene, about 66 MY BP (Maastrichtian-Danian, see Bande et al 1988, kapgate 2005, Mehrotra 2008, and Srivastava 2011 for summaries and paleobotanical context), we found that the type specimen of Amooroxylon deccanensis Bande & Prakash possesses isolated circular or spherical vessels which are reported and discussed here. Our material for study consisted of thin sections (transverse, radial, and tangential) of the holotype (BSIP 35322), representing "a piece of well-preserved [petrified] secondary wood broken from a big log discovered at the base of a hillock near the village of Nawargaon" in Maharashtra (Fig.…”