Orchids from the past, with a new species in Baltic amber

Abstract

Despite being the largest extant family of flowering plants, few fossils of Orchidaceae have been described, and unambiguous finds have first appeared in the last decade. Orchid pollinaria attached to insect pollinators embedded in amber are exceptional sources of information about orchids from the past but may not always be recognized by collectors and insect specialists. We here describe an orchid anther cap with pollinia and caudicular viscin threads as Succinanthera baltica gen. nov. & sp. nov. attached to a fungus gnat embedded in Baltic amber. With an age of 40-55 Myr, this is the oldest orchid fossil known at present.