The first record of fossil wood of Winteraceae from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica

Fossil wood of the Winteraceae from the Upper Cretaceous sediments of James Boss Island, Antarctic Peninsula, is described here for the first rime. Th e specimen is characterized by the absence of vessels, rays of two distinct sizes and tracheids with one-three rows of circular bordered pits, mainly on the radial walls, grading to horizontally elongate and scalariform. Desp ite anatomical conformity to the family Winteraceae, the fossil wood is not identical to any one extant genus and therefore has been assigned to the f ossil organ genus Winteroxylon Gottwald with which the fossil shows greates t similarity. (C) 2000 Annals of Botany Company.