Am J Bot. 1998 Mar;85(3):376.
A fossil flower with affinities to the modern families of the saxifragalean complex is described. Fossils were collected at Old Crossman Pit, Raritan Formation, New Jersey, USA. These sediments are dated on the basis of palynology as Turonian (Upper Cretaceous, ~90 million years before present). Fossils are charcoalified and preserved with exceptional three- dimensional detail. The characters observed in these flowers, when compared with those of extant flowers of several families of the saxifragalean complex, suggest a close relationship with extant members of the Saxifragaceae and Hydrangeaceae. Hypotheses on the origin of petals and staminodes and a possible mechanism of pollination are discussed. This new taxon provides additional characters in the floral morphology of the fossil saxifragoids and extends their geographical distribution in the Cretaceous to North America.
描述了一种与现代岩白菜科复合体家族具有亲缘关系的化石花。化石是在美国新泽西州拉坦成型期的老克罗斯曼坑收集的。这些沉积物的孢粉学年代为上白垩统 Turonian 期（距今约 9000 万年）。化石被碳化并以极好的三维细节保存下来。与现存的几种岩白菜科复合体的花相比，在这些花中观察到的特征表明与现存的岩白菜科和绣球花科的成员关系密切。讨论了花瓣和雄蕊的起源假说以及可能的授粉机制。这个新分类单元为化石岩白菜类的花形态提供了更多特征，并将它们在白垩纪的地理分布扩展到了北美。
