Succinanthera
Succinanthera baltica is an extinct, middle Eocene orchid known only from an anther cap with pollinarium[lower-alpha 1] attached to the base of the leg of a female fungus gnat, Bradysia, trapped in Baltic amber.[1] It is the only species in the genus Succinanthera. The fossil was found in the Samland Peninsula and its age was determined by geochemical tests on the sediments surrounding the amber. The species is considered to be from 40 to 55 million years old.[2]
| Succinanthera Temporal range: Eocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Genus: | †Succinanthera Poinar & Rasmussen |
| Species: | †S. baltica |
| Binomial name | |
| †Succinanthera baltica Poinar & Rasmussen | |
The fossil is tentatively assigned to the subfamily Epidendroideae but does not appear to contain enough information to determine the tribe it belongs to.
Notes
- Researchers describe "pollinia and caudicular viscin threads" but this particular type of viscin is later referred to as "elastoviscin" in the paper
References
- Poinar, George; Rasmussen, Finn N. (March 2017). "Orchids from the past, with a new species in Baltic amber". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 183 (3): 327–333. doi:10.1093/botlinnean/bow018.
- Blackmore, Stephen (2018-10-09). How Plants Work: Form, Diversity, Survival. Princeton University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-691-17749-6.
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