CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Paleogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Mike Pole
Queensland Herbarium, Brisbane Botanical Gardens Mt Coot-tha, Toowong, Australia
Manuel García Ávila
Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain; Facultade de Bioloxía, Asociación Paleontolóxica Galega, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Zhong-Jian Liu
State Forestry Administration Key Laboratory of Orchid Conservation and Utilization at College of Landscape Architecture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
Hang Chu
Tianjin Center, China Geological Survey, Tianjin, China
Yemao Hou
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Guo-Qiang Zhang
State Forestry Administration Key Laboratory of Orchid Conservation and Utilization at College of Landscape Architecture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
Kaihe Du
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Supramolecular Medicinal Materials and Applications, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Paleogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
The origin of angiosperms has been a long-standing botanical debate. The great diversity of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous makes the Jurassic a promising period in which to anticipate the origins of the angiosperms. Here, based on observations of 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 slabs in various states and orientations, from the South Xiangshan Formation (Early Jurassic) of China, we describe a fossil flower, Nanjinganthus dendrostyla gen. et sp. nov.. The large number of specimens and various preservations allow for an evidence-based reconstruction of the flower. From the evidence of the combination of an invaginated receptacle and ovarian roof, we infer that the seeds of Nanjinganthus were completely enclosed. Evidence of an actinomorphic flower with a dendroid style, cup-form receptacle, and angiospermy, is consistent with Nanjinganthus being a bona fide angiosperm from the Jurassic, an inference that we hope will re-invigorate research into angiosperm origins.
