Abstract:This paper briefly reports the gymnosperm fossil wood flora from Lower Cretaceous of Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, including 4 families and 8 genera: Cupressinoxylon, Taxodioxylon (Cupressaceae), Phyllocladoxylon (Podocarpaceae ?), Cedroxylon, Keteleerioxylon, Piceoxylon (Pinaceae), Taxaceoxylon (Taxaceae), and Xenoxylon. Among them, the fossil woods of Pinaceae has the highest diversity and is absolutely dominant. Phyllocladoxylon and Taxaceoxylon were found in Heilongjiang Province for the first time. At present, the Yichun fossil wood flora is one of the Cretaceous wood flora with highest diversity found in China and even in East Asia, which enriches the fossil record of gymnosperms in the Cretaceous of China. The fossil record shows that Northeast China was one of the centers of gymnosperms diversity and distribution in East Asia during Cretaceous. The occurrence of abnormal growth rings and traumatic resin canals in Yichun fossil woods reflect the short- term climate fluctuations, natural hazard or the interaction between plants and the associated organisms in the forest ecosystem. Further study of this fossil wood flora will provide important evidence for understanding the evolution and development history of modern gymnosperms in East Asia and their paleoenvironment and paleoclimate background.
