Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Matters Arising
  • Published:

Flowers from Myanmar amber confirm the Cretaceous age of Rhamnaceae but not of the extant genus Phylica

Nature Plants volume 10, pages 219–222 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

The Original Article was published on 31 January 2022

arising from C. Shi et al. Nature Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01091-w (2022)

Fossil flowers from Myanmar mid-Cretaceous amber (c. 99 million years ago (Ma)) were ascribed by Shi et al.1 to the extant genus Phylica (Rhamnaceae) and a closely related extinct group recognized as a new genus, Eophylica. The new dating of Phylica implied a radical revision of the evolutionary history of flowering plants: the origin time of Rhamnaceae was re-estimated as early Triassic and that of angiosperms as Permian2,3. On the basis of such characters as the presence of an epicalyx, flower merism, placentation, petal aestivation and stamen length, we argue that although one of the fossil flowers can be placed to Rhamnaceae, none of them can be attributed to Phylica or any other extant genus of this family. The flowers from Myanmar amber confirm the mid-Cretaceous age of Rhamnaceae previously estimated by molecular dating4, providing no evidence for the Triassic origin of this family or for the Permian age of angiosperms.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Flowers of Phylica imberbis.

References

  1. Shi, C. et al. Fire-prone Rhamnaceae with South African affinities in Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Nat. Plants 8, 125–135 (2022).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. He, T. H. & Lamont, B. B. Ancient Rhamnaceae flowers impute an origin for flowering plants exceeding 250-million-years ago. iScience 25, 104642 (2022).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Lamont, B. B. & He, T. H. Fossil flowers of Phylica support a 250 Ma origin for Rhamnaceae. Trends Plant Sci. 27, 1093–1094 (2022).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hauenschild, F., Favre, A., Michalak, I. & Muellner-Riehl, A. N. The influence of the Gondwanan breakup on the biogeographic history of the ziziphoids (Rhamnaceae). J. Biogeogr. 45, 2669–2677 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Onstein, R. E., Carter, R. J., Xing, Y. W. & Linder, H. P. Diversification rate shifts in the Cape Floristic Region: the right traits in the right place at the right time. Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 16, 331–340 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Richardson, J. E. et al. Phylogenetic analysis of Phylica L. (Rhamnaceae) with an emphasis on island species: evidence from plastid trnL-F and nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ribosomal) DNA sequences. Taxon 50, 405–427 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Chen, Y. S., Zhu, S. X. & Bayer, R. J. Flora of China: Asteraceae, Tribe Gnaphalieae. eFloras.org http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=20582 (2009).

  8. Weberbauer, A. in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien Vol. 3 part 5 (eds Engler, A. & Prantl, K.) 393–427 (Engelmann, 1895).

  9. Medan, D. & Schirarend, C. in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Vol. 6 (ed Kubitzki, K.) 320–338 (Springer, 2004).

  10. Ronse De Craene, L. P. & Miller, A. G. Floral development and anatomy of Dirachma socotrana (Dirachmaceae): a controversial member of the Rosales. Plant Syst. Evol. 249, 111–127 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Weberling, F. Morphology of Flowers and Inflorescences (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989).

  12. Pillans, N. S. The genus Phylica Linn. J. S. Afr. Bot. 8, 1–164 (1942).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Perrier de la Bâthie, H. in Flore de Madagascar et des Comores Vol. 123 (ed Humbert, H.) 1–50 (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 1950).

  14. Kümpers, B. M. C., Richardson, J. E., Anderberg, A. A., Wilkie, P. & Ronse De Craene, L. P. The significance of meristic changes in the flowers of Sapotaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 180, 161–192 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ronse De Craene, L. P. Floral Diagrams: An Aid to Understanding Flower Morphology and Evolution 2nd edn (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2022).

  16. Ronse De Craene, L. P. Meristic changes in flowering plants: how flowers play with numbers. Flora 221, 22–37 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Link, D. A. Dirachma somalensis D.A. Link sp. nov.: a new species of a remarkable and highly endangered monogeneric family. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 61, 3–13 (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bayer, C. in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Vol. 6 (ed Kubitzki, K.) 122–124 (Springer, 2004).

  19. Zhang, S. D., Soltis, D. E., Yang, Y., Li, D. Z. & Yi, T. S. Multi-gene analysis provides a well-supported phylogeny of Rosales. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 60, 21–18 (2011).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Li, H. T. et al. Plastid phylogenomic insights into relationships of all flowering plant families. BMC Biol. 19, 232 (2021).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Boesewinkel, F. D. & Bouman, F. Ovules and seeds of Dirachma socotrana (Dirachmaceae). Plant Syst. Evol. 205, 195–204 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Bartisch, I. V. & Swenson, U. in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Vol. 6 (ed Kubitzki, K.) 131–134 (Springer, 2004).

  23. Friis, I. in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Vol. 2 (ed Kubitzki, K.) 141–142 (Springer, 1993).

  24. Ronse De Craene, L. P. The evolutionary significance of homeosis in flowers, a morphological perspective. Int. J. Plant Sci. 164, S225–S235 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Prichard, E. C. Morphological studies in Rhamnaceae. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 71, 82–106 (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Malécot, V., Nickrent, D. L., Baas, P., van den Oever, L. & Lobreau-Callen, D. A morphological cladistic analysis of Olacaceae. Syst. Bot. 29, 569–586 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Ronse De Craene, L. P. & Smets, E. F. The distribution and systematic relevance of the androecial character oligomery. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 118, 193–247 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Punt, W., Marks, A. & Hoen, P. P. Rhamnaceae. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 123, 57–66 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Reille, M. Pollen et Spores d’Europe et d’Afrique du Nord Suppl. 2 (Laboratoire de Botanique historique et Palynologie, 1998).

  30. Coiro, M., Doyle, M. A. & Hilton, J. How deep is the conflict between molecular and fossil evidence on the age of angiosperms? N. Phytol. 223, 83–99 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Magallón, S., Sánchez-Reyes, L. L. & Gómez-Acevedo, S. L. Thirty clues to the exceptional diversification of flowering plants. Ann. Bot. 123, 491–503 (2019).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Sokoloff, D. D., Remizowa, M. V., El, E. S., Rudall, P. J. & Bateman, R. M. Supposed Jurassic angiosperms lack pentamery, an important angiosperm-specific feature. N. Phytol. 228, 420–426 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from the University of Johannesburg (URC Strategic Grant) and the Komarov Botanical Institute (institutional research projects no. АААА-А19-119030190018-1) to A.A.O., by the budgetary funding of the Lomonosov Moscow State University (subsidy no. 121032500084-6) for E.E.S. and by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia (project no. 075-15-2021-1064) for D.D.S. We thank CapeNature for issuing a collecting permit for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany and Plant Biotechnology Department, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Alexei A. Oskolski & Benjamin B. Morris

  2. Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Alexei A. Oskolski

  3. Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    Elena E. Severova & Dmitry D. Sokoloff

Authors
  1. Alexei A. Oskolski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Benjamin B. Morris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elena E. Severova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dmitry D. Sokoloff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.A.O. conceived the study, analysed the floral morphological data and wrote the manuscript draft. B.B.M. examined the anatomy of extant Phylica flowers. E.E.S. analysed and interpreted the pollen data. D.D.S. interpreted the floral morphological data and revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexei A. Oskolski.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Plants thanks Richard Buggs and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Materials and Methods.

Reporting Summary

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oskolski, A.A., Morris, B.B., Severova, E.E. et al. Flowers from Myanmar amber confirm the Cretaceous age of Rhamnaceae but not of the extant genus Phylica. Nat. Plants 10, 219–222 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01591-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01591-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing