Leefructus mirus

Leefructus mirus is directly related to modern angiosperms. This plant was 16 cm long, and the fossil specimens are approximately 1 cm thick. Two fish fossils, called ‘Lycoptera dividi’, are located on each side of the plant. The fish fossils are one of the three representative fossils of the famous Jehol Biota. Leefructus mirus might have grown in a wetland or swampy environment. This plant is similar to the modern Ranunculaceae plants, and its morphology resembles the modern Clematis or Delphinium grandiflorum. Fossils of Leefructus mirus have been collected from the Yixian Formation, which is from the early and middle periods of the Early Cretaceous, and this is the earliest occurrence of a dicotyledonous angiosperm fossil. Therefore, Leefructus mirus is China’s and perhaps the world’s earliest angiosperm fossil that is directly connected to modern angiosperms; in other words, it is a close relative of flowering plants.