--- title: New Flower Species Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber description: Researchers have discovered a new flower species that has been “perfectly preserved” in amber, much like in "Jurassic Park." canonical: https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-15T22:34:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:14:02.010Z article:section: Science og:title: Ancient Flower Species Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber og:description: Just like in "Jurassic Park" og:url: https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83988e1c988edda/69887da73c1639a9d845c07e/flower_amber_new_species.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Handout of the flower Strychnos electri encased in amber og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ancient Flower Species Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber twitter:description: Just like in "Jurassic Park" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83988e1c988edda/69887da73c1639a9d845c07e/flower_amber_new_species.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 15 Million-Year-Old Flower Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 15, 2016 10:34 PM UTC  The flower, Strychnos electri, encased in amber, is shown in this handout photo provided by George Poinar of Oregon State University, Feb. 15, 2016. The flower, Strychnos electri, encased in amber, is shown in this handout photo provided by George Poinar of Oregon State University, Feb. 15, 2016.George Poinar—Handout/Reuters  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 15, 2016 10:34 PM UTC Researchers have discovered a [new flower species that has been “perfectly preserved” in amber](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2016/02/15/twenty-million-year-old-flower-perfectly-preserved-in-amber-jurassic-park-style/#6dd4a0e467c1), much like in the dinosaur blockbuster _Jurassic Park_. The [two flowers have been kept intact in the amber](http://phys.org/news/2016-02-amber-species.html) for at least 15 million years, according to researchers from Oregon State University and Rutgers University. They are fossil specimens from the rare asterid family, specifically from the genus Strychnos, _Forbes_ reports. “The specimens are beautiful, perfectly preserved fossil flowers, which at one point in time were borne by plants that lived in a steamy tropical forest with both large and small trees, climbing vines, palms, grasses and other vegetation,” said Oregon State’s George Poinar, Jr., whose work inspired the original _Jurassic Park_ novel. [Rutgers botany professor Lena Struwe](http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/news/science&id=368844341) named the species _Strychnos electri_ after the Greek word for amber. “_Strychnos electri_ has likely been extinct for a long time,” she said in a statement. “But many new species living and, unfortunately, soon-to-be-extinct species are discovered by scientists every year.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/"},"headline":"15 Million-Year-Old Flower Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber","datePublished":"2016-02-15T22:34:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:14:02.010Z","description":"Just like in Jurassic Park","url":"https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/","keywords":["plants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83988e1c988edda/69887da73c1639a9d845c07e/flower_amber_new_species.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte83988e1c988edda/69887da73c1639a9d845c07e/flower_amber_new_species.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Handout of the flower Strychnos electri encased in amber","caption":"Handout of the flower Strychnos electri encased in amber","creditText":"George Poinar—Handout/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/plants/","name":"plants"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4224917/new-flower-species-amber/","name":"15 Million-Year-Old Flower Found 'Perfectly Preserved' in Amber"}}]}] ```