Cornalean affinities, phylogenetic significance, and biogeographic implications of Operculifructus infructescences from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Mexico.

Premise of the Study Cretaceous Cornales provide a crucial record of the early history of asterids. Most lineages of the order are well represented in the fossil record, but South African families of Curtisiaceae and Grubbiaceae remain poorly understood. Seventy-three specimens of a fossil infructescence belonging to the genus Operculifructus Estrada-Ruiz & Cevallos-Ferriz emend.