Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae) pollen from the Miocene of eastern China

A newly discovered fossil pollen taxon is described as Lagerstroemia cathayensis sp. nov. on the basis of a combination of morphological characters including prolate shape with no or weakly developed pseudocolpi and rugulate-verrucate tectum. The fossil pollen was recovered from a Miocene deposit in Zhejiang province, eastern China. It resembles pollen of extant Lagerstroemia subcostata Koehne and L. limii Merrill, both species still occurring near the fossil site in Zhejiang province and further extending into other regions of southern China, Japan, India and the Philippines. This record represents the only description of Cenozoic pollen grains of the genus Lagerstroemia from East Asia examined by means of scanning electron microscopy. The occurrence of Lagerstroemia together with some temperate plants (i.e. Keteleeria, Acer, Carpinus, Fagus) at the fossil site suggests that the climate in eastern China during the Miocene was similar to that of today.