Fruits of Scirpus (Cyperaceae) from the early Miocene of Weichang, Hebei Province, North China and their palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications

This paper describes the fossil fruits of Scirpus weichangensis X.Q. Liang, sp. nov. from the early Miocene of Guangyongfa Village, Weichang County, Hebei Province, North China. The fossil fruits are obovate in shape and their lateral sections are plumply trigonous. The cell walls of the surface are straight. The persistent stout bristles have downward-directed barbellae in distal 1/2. The occurrence of the fossil Scirpus indicates that Guangfayong was a wetland in the early Miocene. Based on the fossil data, the genus likely originated in Western Siberia in the Oligocene, spread during the Miocene, and was finally distributed worldwide in the Holocene.