The largest fossilized flower ever discovered has been identified as belonging to the genus Symplocos, a flowering plant species currently found in Southeast China and Japan. This remarkable specimen has been named Symplocos kowalewskii.
The five-petal flower, which measures about one inch wide, was preserved in amber and was unearthed in 1872 from a mine in Kaliningrad, Russia. It is notable for being three times larger than the next largest bloom found in amber. Dating back to the late Eocene epoch, this fossil is approximately 40 million years old. Its preservation occurred when sticky sap from a conifer tree near the Baltic Sea dripped onto the flower, eventually solidifying into amber.
Fossils of plants preserved in amber are quite rare, with only 1% to 3% of organisms found in Baltic amber being botanical. Large flowers are even less common due to the significant amount of resin needed to encapsulate them.
Initially, scientists misclassified this specimen as an extinct flowering evergreen plant called Stewartia kowalewskii. For over 150 years, the flower remained largely forgotten at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Germany, where it was stored alongside modern tree resin samples.
Recent advancements prompted researchers to re-examine the fossil. They polished the amber block using toothpaste and a damp cloth, then examined it under a scanning electron microscope. This detailed analysis revealed that the amber had preserved the flower’s petals, stamens, and tiny pollen grains.
Co-author Christa-Charlotte Hofmann, a paleontologist at the University of Vienna, noted that “Only an extremely high magnification allows us to see the morphological details of the pollen grains that are only a few micrometers in size.” The researchers discovered that the pollen did not belong to Stewartia, but rather resembled that of the Symplocos genus, which includes small evergreen trees and shrubs.
The reclassification of this flower is significant as it offers insights into what the forests of northern Europe looked like between **34 million and 38 million years ago** during the late Eocene period. Additionally, it can help scientists assess how much Earth’s climate has changed over time due to natural factors, thereby enhancing understanding of human impact on the environment.
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