An Overview of Upper Gondwana Rajmahal Flora and Its Significance

The flora of the Rajmahal Formation is typically known as ‘Rajmahal Flora’. It is Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian) in age and is one of the most interesting Mesozoic floral succession characterized by prolific and diversified floral entities. Distinctive amalgamation of volcanic and sedimentary sequences (intercalations of basaltic lava flows and intertrappean sediments) is a unique feature of this formation which had led to the excellent preservation of plant body remains along with anatomical details and it is one of the national geological monuments of India. A number of floral elements of Rajmahal Flora have been under continuous taxanomic reassessment, particularly enigmatic macroremains of angiosperms, though definite pollen records of angiospermid affinity are known from this formation. The present paper provides an updated synthesis and analysis of the palaeofloritics of the Rajmahal Formation and underlying Dubrajpur Formation and its relevance in tracing the angiosperm evolution.