Two 20 to 30 million-year-old fossil flowers encased in amber have been identified as an entirely new species and might have been poisonous. Botany professor Lena Struwe said the two preserved flowers didn't belong to any of the 200 known species of the Strychnos genus.
The extinct flowers belong to a new species called Strychnos electri, a term Struwe coined honoring the amber in which it was preserved. 'Elektron' is Greek for the English word "amber."
Struwe published the discovery in the Nature Plants journal on Feb 15, together with entomologist George Poinar, who studies amber-preserved insect fossils. Poinar is integrative biology professor emeritus from the Oregon State University.
Complete specimens encased in amber are uncommon. The two flower specimens were part of the 500 fossils, which includes insects, Poinar found in a Dominican Republic amber mine way back in 1986. Poinar worked with the insect fossils he found; however, the flower specimens caught his attention because they look like they just fell from a tree branch. Poinar initially thought the flowers were Strychnos so he sent the flower specimen to Struwe.
"The discovery of this new species in a 30-year-old amber collection highlights that we still have many undiscovered species hidden away in natural history collections worldwide and not enough taxonomic experts to work through them," said Struwe from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
Strychnos is a popular source of strychnine, a colorless crystalline alkaloid that is often used as a pesticide to kill small vertebrates such as rodents and birds who feed on crops. Highly toxic, strychnine can cause muscular convulsions when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through mouth and eyes. It can result in death through suffocation.
"Species of the genus Strychnos are almost all toxic in some way. Each plant has its own alkaloids with varying effects," said Poinar. There are some Strychnos that are more toxic than others and this trait could account for their success since it keeps away herbivores. In modern times, some of the Strychnos toxins are found to have medicinal and other useful properties.
