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.

A limited selection of images of fossils can be seen on Wikimedia Commons. Many other images can be found by web search, the majority being fossil leaves from North America. Many of these images are from dealers selling fossil specimens, and the images may not remain long, and others are picture libraries. The images are of interest, partly to be able to see the past variation in leaf shape, and to see the original geographic ranges - including for instance, Greenland and parts of northern Asia to confirm the original Laurasian distribution of the genus.

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 (the latter being no longer traceable now) for the use of the photographs.

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24-October-2022