Description

Chamaecyparis linguaefolia

Oligocene

Florissant Shale

Florissant, CO USA.

11mm inflorescence on 22mm shale.

Plant. Conifer.

Chamaecyparis is a genus of conifer that includes the false cypress tree.  It has been reported from the Cretaceous but is better known from the Early Cenozoic, still living today in eastern Asia and North America.  In the Florissant Formation both foliage (leaves, branchlets) and cones of Chamaecyparis are found.

An inflorescence usually refers to a flower cluster in an angiosperm but it can also refer to a flower-like structure in other plant groups.