Angiosperm Wood from the Upper Cretaceous of Central California: Part I

Abstract

This paper is the first in a series about a collection of 40 Upper Cretaceous woods from central California. The wood is in the form of fragments of stems and roots embedded in nodules of collophane rich in microorganisms, pollen, and spores. Two new species are described: Ulminium pattersonensis and Ulminium mulleri. Evidence presented indicates that these two specimens are similar to woods of the Lauraceae and fall well within the range of variation of woods of that family. Because the taxonomy of the Lauraceae is in need of revision, meaningful comparisons of fossil plant parts with modern taxa were found to be unfeasible.