text: archaeamphora archaeamphora longicervia is an extinct species of flowering plant and the only member of the genus archaeamphora . fossil material assigned to this taxon originates from the yixian formation of northeastern china , dated to the early cretaceous ( around 145 to 101 million years ago ) . the species was originally described as a pitcher plant with close affinities to extant members of the family sarraceniaceae . this would make it the earliest known carnivorous plant and the only known fossil record of pitcher plants ( with the possible exception of some of uncertain affinity ) . archaeamphora is also one of the three oldest known genera of angiosperms ( flowering plants ) . li ( 2005 ) wrote that " the existence of a so highly derived angiosperm in the early cretaceous suggests that angiosperms should have originated much earlier , maybe back to 280 mya as the molecular clock studies suggested " . subsequent authors have questioned the identification of archaeamphora as a pitcher plant . etymology the generic name archaeamphora is derived from the greek , ( " ancient " ; combining form in latin : ) , and , ( " pitcher " ) . the specific epithet longicervia is derived from the latin longus ( " long " ) and ( " with a neck " ) , in reference to the characteristic constriction in the pitcher - like structures of this species . fossil material all known fossil material of a. longicervia originates from the formation in , western liaoning , china . these early cretaceous beds constitute the lower part of the yixian formation , which is dated at 124 . 6 million years old . nine specimens of a. longicervia have been found , including holotype and paratype . description archaeamphora longicervia was a herbaceous plant growing to around 50 mm ( 2 . 0 in ) in height . the stem , at least 21 mm ( 0 . 83 in ) long by 1 . 2 mm ( 0 . 047 in ) wide , bore distinctive vertical ridges and grooves . the pitcher - like structures were in form and 30 to 40 mm ( 1 . 2 to 1 . 6 in ) long . mature pitchers and underdeveloped pitchers or - like leaves were arranged spirally around the stem . pitchers consisted of a tubular base , expanded middle section , constriction around the mouth , and a vertical , spoon - shaped lid . a single wing ran down the side of each pitcher . three to five parallel major veins were present on the pitchers , along with a few intercostal veins and numerous small . two unusual bag - like structures were present on each pitcher , one on either side of the central wing . similar but semi - circular structures were found on the margin of the lid . these structures exhibited strong yellow - green intrinsic fluorescence when exposed to visible light with a wavelength of 500 nm ( blue - green ) . tiny glands , approximately 4 µm in diameter , were found on the inner surface of the pitchers and partially embedded in the grooves along the veins . these also showed very strong golden - yellow fluorescence . a single seed was found intimately associated with the fossil material of a. longicervia and is presumed to belong to the same species . it is winged and reticulate - tuberculate in morphology , closely resembling the seeds of sarraceniaceae taxa . the seed is oval - shaped , covered with black - brown warts , and measures 0 . 9 by 1 . 25 mm ( 0 . 035 by 0 . 049 in ) . taxonomy the fossil material of a. longicervia was subjected to chemical analysis for oleanane , considered a key marker differentiating angiosperms from gymnosperms . was detected in these specimens , suggesting that they belong to the angiosperms . pitcher plant interpretation according to li ( 2005 ) , several morphological features of a. longicervia indicate a close relationship to sarraceniaceae : both taxa exhibit one or two pitcher wings , a smooth peristome , and pitchers that extend vertically from the top of a short petiole . li ( 2005 ) suggests that a. longicervia is morphologically similar to modern purpurea . it shares with this species the spiral arrangement of its pitchers and - like tubular leaves with parallel major veins . archaeamphora longicervia also shows a resemblance to species of the genus heliamphora in having pitchers with a long neck and upright lid . of particular note is the similarity between the thick semi - circular structures on the lid of a. longicervia and the large nectar - secreting " bubble " present on the upper posterior portion of heliamphora pitchers . li ( 2005 ) mentions the discovery of another type of " pitcher plant " from the same formation . this variety differs from the type material of a. longicervia in having pitchers that lack any constriction before the mouth , instead gradually expanding from the petiole into a hollow trumpet - like shape . he suggests that it " should be a different species " from a. longicervia . an intermediate form with a wider neck is also reported , suggesting that these plants were already a diversified group in the early cretaceous . current understanding & ( 2010 ) opined that the pitcher plant interpretation of archaeamphora is " problematic and the fossil is in need of revision " . in their 2011 book , sarraceniaceae of south america , mcpherson et al. summarised current thinking on archaeamphora as follows : serious doubt is emerging that reduces the likelihood that archaeamphora longicervia belongs in the sarraceniaceae lineage , or was even a pitcher plant at all . [ ... ] although archaeamphora might well be a representative of the earliest flowering plants on earth [ ... ] it is very unlikely that it represents an ancestor of sarraceniaceae since it is much too old to be part of the advanced " crown group " of to which sarraceniaceae belong . [ ... ] another contradiction is that except for archaeamphora , there is no other evidence to suggest that sarraceniaceae evolved outside the new world , to which all extant members of the family are endemic . wong et al . ( 2015 ) put forward a new perspective [ 16 ] as follows : archaeamphora longicervia h. q. li was described as an herbaceous , sarraceniaceae - like pitcher plant from the mid early cretaceous yixian formation of liaoning province , northeastern china . here , a re - investigation of a. longicervia specimens from the yixian formation provides new insights into its identity and the morphology of pitcher plants claimed by li . we demonstrate that putative pitchers of archaeamphora are insect - induced leaf galls that consist of three components : ( 1 ) an innermost larval chamber ; ( 2 ) an intermediate zone of nutritive tissue ; and ( 3 ) an outermost wall of sclerenchyma . archaeamphora is not a carnivorous , sarraceniaceae - like angiosperm , but represents insect - galled leaves of the previously reported gymnosperm g. sun et al. from the yixian formation . habitat the area inhabited by a. longicervia is thought to have experienced significant climatic fluctuations during the early cretaceous , ranging from arid or semi - arid to more humid conditions . the substrate in the region was mostly composed of lacustrine sediments and volcanic rocks .