The experts of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences found Panshizhen Flower which grew in the western part of China’s Liaoning province in the Jurassic period 162 million years ago. It is the earliest typical flower in the world so far. This finding was published online in the British journal Historical Biology.
No typical flowers have been found in the stratum before the Cretaceous period in the world so far. Prior to this, the earliest flower fossil is the Callianthus dilae yielded in Yi county 125 million years ago. Panshizhen Flower has all the components for a typical flower.
Its calyces and petals are differentiated significantly. Its anther has 4 coyote holes, its pistil includes the style and single-chamber half-inferior ovary, and its ovary wraps a number of ovules that have the monolayer integument. These features make Panshizhen Flower the earliest typical flower in the world so far. The discovery of Panshizhen Flower opens up a new space for the study of the origin of angiosperm.
