Radiation précoce des coniferes Taxodiaceae et bois affines du Jurassique de France

Three Jurassic fossil-wood taxa from France have been investigated, Taxodioxylon lemoignei n.sp. from the Oxfordian, Prototaxodioxylon romanensis Philippe from the Pliensbachian, and P. sp. from the Hettangian. Wood of this type, prior to the Late Cretaceous, is reviewed. The Oxfordian wood shows a structure characteristic of a Taxodiaceae, previously unknown before the Late Cretaceous. It is well differentiated from contemporaneous woods of Cupressaceae. The systematic position of the Liassic forms, with mixed type of pitting, remains more arguable. These taxodiaceous woods, along with known reproductive structures, reinforce the idea that this family was well separated from Cupressaceae already in the Middle Jurassic. *** Fossil wood, Jurassic, France, Taxodiaceae.