The first discovery ofEucommia fruit fossil in China

A fruit of Eucommia has been recovered from the Eocene of Fushun, Liaoning Province. This represents the only confirmed occurrence of fruits of this genus in the paleobotanical record of China. Although Eucommia is endemic to central China today, the genus was more widespread in the Northern Hemisphere during the Tertiary. The fossil specimen from Fushun corresponds closely to the fruits of E. montana Brown from the Eocene of western North America and is easily distinguished from fruits of the living E. ulmoides Oliv. and the Japanese Eocene species, E. kobayashii Huzioka by its smaller size.