Firmiana (Malvaceae: Sterculioideae) fruits from the Upper Miocene of Yunnan, Southwest China

A new species of Firmiana Marsili is recognized and described based on capsules from the Late Miocene Lincang flora of Yunnan, China. Firmiana yunnanensis nov. sp. is represented by opened, dehiscent, membranous follicles with a weak, sinuous midvein, obtuse secondary veins and thick marginal vein. The follicles conform in shape and venation with those of extant species of Firmiana, a genus now distributed in eastern Africa, Indo-Malaysia, and eastern and southeastern Asia. This fossil species occurred within the native distribution of extant Firmiana species. It provides new information on fossil history, paleoecology, as well as on the plant diversity of the Lincang flora.