Fossil dicotyledonous woods from the Deccan Intertrappean beds near Shahpura, Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

Four fossil dicotyledonous woods , viz., Sterculioxylon shahpurensis Bande & Prakash, Burseroxylon preserratum Prakash & Tripathi, Heyneoxylon tertiarum Bande & Prakash, and Dracontomelumoxylon mangiferumoides Ghosh & Roy have been described here from a recently discovered rich Deccan Intertrappean exposure near Shahpura in Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh. These fossil woods are closely comparable with the woods of Sterculia of Sterculiaceae, Bursera of Burseraceae, Heynea of Meliaceae and Dracontomelum of Anacardiaceae and suggest the presence of a rich forest flora in the Mandla region during the Early Tertiary times.