XVI International Botanical Congess

Improved understanding of relationships among extant Malvales provides a helpful framework for the interpretation of fossil remains, which can, in turn, provide a fuller understanding of the timing and extent of the malvalean diversification. Bombacoid wood and pollen from the Maestrichtian of North America provide the earliest unequivocal evidence of Core Malvales. Malvales were diverse in the Eocene, including both extinct and extant genera. The Craigia- Tilia clade was established by the mid-Eocene based on diagnostic fruit remains, both of these genera were widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere by the Oligocene. Tilioid pollen was produced by the extinct genus Florissantia, as well as by Craigia and Tilia. Sterculieae ss are recognized from the early and middle Eocene of North America. The first convincing records of Malvaceae ss are Thespesia-like pollen in the Eocene of northern South America.