THE DISCOVERY OF A PLANT FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGE IN THE SHIQIANFENG FORMATION IN YIYANG, HENAN, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Plant fossils and Estheria fossils were collected by the authors from the Shiqianfeng Formation near the Nantiamen coal mine, Yiyang county. Henan province. The plant fossils were identified to be an important plant assemblage of latest Permian age. The plant fossils at the base of the formation are dominated by conifers, including 5 genera, 2 species, 2 species conformis and 2 indeterminate species, and the Ullmannia bronnii-Pseudouoltzia cf. liebeana assemblage may be established. The discovery of this plant assemblage has provided new formation not only for the determination of the age of the Shiqianfeng Formation in Henan but also for the correlation of the ages of the contemporaneous strata in China and abroad.