Eocene Green River Tree Catkin
Tree Flower (Catkin) aff. Platycarya sp.
Green River Formation
Parachute Creek Member
Middle Eocene
Uintah County, Utah
This is a beautiful fossil tree flower may be related to the Family Juglandaceae and is a relative to the walnut. The specimen has excellent detail with two attached catkins and clusters of sessile flowers.
Fossil examples of this group are represented today by some of our best known trees with many extant species. They usually have hard wood and some have slim elongate clusters of small flowers called catkins. Catkins belonging to this genus are uncommon in the Green River deposits.
$200