Leaves of Taxus with cuticle micromorphology from the Early Cretaceous of eastern Inner Mongolia, Northeast China

The Early Cretaceous Huolinhe Formation in eastern Inner Mongolia, northeastern China has yielded abundant and diverse plant fossils, to which we here add a new species of Taxus based on exceptionally well-preserved, lignified leaves from the Gucheng open-cast coal mine. huolingolensis sp. nov. linear with lamina that tapers an acute mucronate apex, narrows into decurrent, stalk-like base. midrib is prominently raised abaxial leaf surface. cuticle bears dense, short, isodiametric papillae two lateral stomatal bands, each contains 3–5 discontinuous longitudinal rows stomata. Stomata are longitudinally oriented, amphicyclic, polar subsidiary cells 2–4 cells. Each stoma more-or-less transversely elongated papillate ring around pit outer closely resembles extant gross morphology as well micromorphology, within genus most similar North American T. brevifolia. Like other Mesozoic, narrower bands fewer band compared living genus. discovery adds our knowledge Mesozoic Taxaceae suggests been since Cretaceous.