XVI International Botanical Congess

Recent studies on the fossil woods at the foot of the Dabie Mountains (30?31'N, 114?35'E) near Yangluo town, Xinzhou country, Hubei province, have shown a rich assemblage of plant taxa in this region during the Tertiary. It is 17 species and 12 families proposed and described, which consist of fossil woods of Canarioxylon noduliforme sp. nov. of Burseraceae, Laurinoxylon dabieshanense sp. nov. of Lauraceae, Cornoxylon hupehense sp. nov. of Cornaceae, Gmelina sp. of Verbenaceae, Catalpa sp. of Bignoniaceae, Acrocarpus sp. and Ormosia sp. of Leguminosae, Phyllanthus sp., Bridelia sp. and Bischofia sp. of Euphorbiaceae, Euodia sp. of Rutaceae, Tsuga sp., Keteleeria sp. and Pinus sp. of Pinaceae, Podocarpus sp. of Podocarpaceae, Cunninghamis sp. of Taxodiaceae and Cupressus sp. of Cupressaceae. Anatomical characters of all these taxa indicate a more humid and warm climate in the Dabie Mountains during the Tertiary period. Comparative data were given on its size, morphology, taxology and paleo-ecology. All the holotype specimens are deposited in Hubei University.