Chinese Swamp Cypress

Glyptostrobus europaeus

Neogene: Miocene: Burdigalian,
approx. 17 Mio. years old
Wackersdorf, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany

Glyptostrobuseuropaeus, a water spruce belonging to the Cupressaceae (cypress family), was widespread in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic of Europe, North America, and Asia and was an important element of swampy lowland forests. The only modern representative of the genus, Glyptostrobus pensilis, exists in a few small areas in China and Vietnam. The incarbonated trunk on display was soaked in a special preservative solution (sugar) for several years before being placed in the museum.