A new species of Cunninghamia (Cupressaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Hokkaido, Japan

Cunninghamia nakatonbetsuensis sp. nov. is described as a new fossil-species based on a seed cone from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Heitaro-zawa Formation of the Hakobuchi Group, exposed in Heitaro-zawa, Nakatonbetsu Town, Hokkaido, Japan. This newly discovered species has three seeds per the bract-scale complex, a single robust vascular bundle and a resin canal at the base of the bract-scale complex, and a single row of vascular bundles around the middle of the bract-scale complex. These features are shared with other Cunninghamia species. This new species shares many characters with extant C. lanceolata, such as the trilobed ovuliferous scale, which is fused to the bract except for lateral margins, and branching pattern of vascular bundles in the bract-scale complex. However, it is different from extant and fossil Cunninghamia species including C. lanceolata by possessing thicker bract-scale complex.