Poplar

There are three species of poplar present among the leaf fossils taken from the Bohlinger Schlucht. The balsam poplar is only known to have existed in alluvial plains across Europe during the Miocene and Pliocene eras. As trees that grew in riparian woodlands, they were able to withstand flooding. This specimen shows excellently-preserved leaf veins, which hang together like a net stitched together while their mesh is, for its part, filled with a delicate, fine venous net. The leaf’s vascular system supports the process of material exchange, as well as fortification of the leaf’s structure. The preservation of such a miniature, fine structure after 13.5 million years is exceptionally rare.