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Largest flower found in amber was frozen in time millions of years ago

This beautiful flower was trapped in amber between 33 million and 38 million years ago, preserving it in exquisite detail

By Jason Arunn Murugesu

12 January 2023

Fossil flower trapped in Baltic amber

This fossil flower was trapped in Baltic amber as it released pollen

Carola Radke, MfN

The largest fossil of a flower preserved in amber has been described in detail 150 years after it was first studied – revealing that it was captured as it released its pollen. Analysis of that pollen has led to its reclassification as a different species.

The fossilised flower was originally discovered and described in 1872, says Eva-Maria Sadowski at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany. The five-petalled flower, which is about 28 millimetres in diameter, is encased in …

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