Fossil woods from the tertiary of Burma

Abstract

Fossil woods representing the genera Dipterocarpus and Shorea-Pentacme of Dipterocarpaceae, Gluta-Melanorrhoea of Anacardiaceae, Sterculia of Sterculiaceae, Acacia, Cynometra, Cassia and Afzelia-Intsia of Leguminosae, Lagerstroemia of Lythraceae, and a dicot wood of uncertain affinities have been investigated from the Tertiary beds of Burma. These woods are noteworthy owing to their fine structural preservation and from the standpoint of their palaeogeographical distribution. Modern comparable forms of these fossils are still found in the forests of Burma indicating thereby that there has been no appreciable change in the climatic conditions of this region since the existence of this flora, which flourished under the tropical, mesophytic conditions. An attempt has also been made to assign a precise age to the woods based on the floral assemblage.