This flower, preserved in amber, may be 45 million years old

This delicate flower has been preserved in amber, with each petal and tiny hair intact, for as many as 45 million years.

Scientists discovered the flower in a cave in the Dominican Republic along with a treasure trove of insects preserved in amber. Now the flower has been identified by an expert as a member of the vast Asterid cladeof flowers, whose members include the coffee plant as well as potatoes, peppers, and the poisonous Strychnine tree. | Ars Technica

Tell her that sheds
Such treasure in the air,
Recking naught else but that her graces give
Life to the moment,
I would bid them live
As roses might, in magic amber laid,
Red overwrought with orange and all made
One substance and one colour
Braving time.

--From "Envoi" by Ezra Pound

Posted by gerardvanderleun at February 15, 2016 12:21 PM