The genus Platanus is believed to be more than 100 million years old, and Platanaceae is one of the oldest known angiosperm families. Many fossilised specimens of plane leaves and fruit have been discovered in the northern hemisphere. These have been given a variety of specific names. The following are photographs of fossil leaf and fruit specimens from North America, of a species named Platanus wyomingensis. The leaves are from the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation, Bonanza, Uintah County, Utah. They are from Middle Eocene Epoch (Lower Uintan Stage), about 46 million years old.

My thanks to Andrew Milner of Hanman's Fossils and Minerals for the photographs and much of the information on this page.

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5-Sept-2009