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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #371116
Research Project: Develop Pest Management Technologies and Strategies to Control the Coffee Berry Borer

Location: Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory

Title: Valviloculus pleristaminis gen. et sp. nov., a mid-Cretaceous amber flower related to families in the order Laurales

Author
item POINAR, GEORGE - Oregon State University
item CHAMBERS, KENTON - Oregon State University
item IWANIEC, U - Oregon State University
item Vega, Fernando

Submitted to: Journal of Botanical Research Institute of Texas
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2020
Publication Date: 12/7/2020
Citation: Poinar, G., Chambers, K.L., Iwaniec, U.T., Vega, F.E. 2020. Valviloculus pleristaminis gen. et sp. nov., a mid-Cretaceous amber flower related to families in the order Laurales. Journal of Botanical Research Institute of Texas. 14:359–366.

Interpretive Summary: A new genus and species is described as Caballipes pleristaminis based on a flower inclusion preserved in Burmese amber. Caballipes pleristaminis represents an extinct lineage and adds to our knowledge of the morphological diversity that occurred in specific lineages of angiosperms some 100 million years ago. This information will be of interest to botanists in general and more specifically to those specialized in the evolution of angiosperms.

Technical Abstract: The flower described here as Caballipes pleristaminis, a new genus and species of fossil angiosperm, was obtained from amber deposits in northern Myanmar dating to the mid-Cretaceous period. The flower is bisexual, with an urceolate floral cup enclosing numerous, spirally arranged stamens and a central cluster of pistils, of which only the stigmatic tips are visible. The anthers are bilocular, with lateral pollen sacs that meet at the apex or merge across the tip of the connective in the form of a horseshoe. The perianth consists of a single whorl of 5 triangular tepals. In many respects, the flower is similar to certain members of the Monimiaceae, tribe Mollinedieae, but differs in having a bisexual flower, a 5-merous perianth, and monoporate pollen grains.