Fossil wood flora from the lower Miocene Yanagida Formation, Noto Peninsula, central Japan

Silicified woods from the lower Miocene Yanagida Formation were collected from two sites, Mawaki and Uchiura, in the northeastern Note Peninsula, central Japan. Among 80 specimens, 15 species representing 13 families were identified, including six new species: Torreya mioxyla (Taxaceae), Castanopsis uchiuraensis (Fagaceae), Camellia japonoxyla (Theaceae), Stewartia notoensis (Theaceae), Distylium chiharu-hirayae (Hamamelidaceae) and Aesculus mioxyla (Hippocastanaceae). The fossil wood floras from these two sites contain evergreen and deciduous dicotyledons and have a similar composition. These floras are compared to the fossil wood flora from Monzen and to the Daijima-type compression fossil flora. The composition of the fossil wood floras of Mawaki and Uchiura suggests they represent a mixed mesic forest of conifers, deciduous dicotyledons and evergreen dicotyledons.