The first macrofossil record of parasitic plant flowers from an Eocene Baltic amber

Abstract

Parasitic plants left little trace in the macrofossil record, making their evolutionary history mysterious. Baltic amber and other fossil lagerstätts have provided plenty of angiosperm fossils, there are only three reports of fossil leaves (cf. Schoepfia republicensis and Schoepfia sp. 1) related to Schoepfiaceae until now, making many hypotheses related to its evolution untested. Here we report a fossil corolla and stamens of a probable schoepfiaceous flower (Schoepfiaceae, Santalales) from late Eocene (37.8–33.9 Ma ago) of Kaliningrad, Russia. Unlike previously reported flowers, the new fossil is characterized by its five fused petals bearing adnate stamens. This character assemblage points to an affinity of Schoepfiaceae. This is the debut of schoepfiaceous flower in the macrofossil record, shedding a new light on the evolution of this poorly understood family. Its unexpected occurrence in Russia adds information to the discussion on the history of Schoepfiaceae.

Keywords

• Flower
• Corolla
• Schoepfiaceae
• Amber
• Eocene
• Kaliningrad