In China – they found a 160 million year old fossilized flower bud

Chinese researchers have discovered the world’s oldest flower bud fossil in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The so-called flower bud refers to the small tissues that develop into flowers and inflorescences on the branches of plants. It is the embryo of the flower that grows from a growth point on the stem.

The fossil contained a stem, leafy branch, swollen fruit and a small flower bud, measuring about 3 square millimeters in size, according to Wang Xin, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Eastern Chinese Academy of Sciences. China’s Jiangsu Province.

Wanff was quoted by Xinhua as saying that the length of the flower bud is less than 4 millimeters, which is much smaller than a human fingernail.

The fossil was found in Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia. Scientists said that the fossilized flower bud lived in the Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago.

“Although only the flower bud and fruit remained in the fossil, the plant must have undergone the flowering process. About 160 million years ago, the young Jurassic flower bud may have flourished under the feet of humans and dinosaurs,” he said. Wang, who led the study.

The study was published online in the Geological Society of London Publications.