Plants: A Different Perspective


V. Botanical Inclusions in Baltic Amber


When Captain Lemuel Gulliver sailed to Lilliput, he discovered a kingdom where the people and their dwellings were tiny. Though Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” is a work of fiction, a real Lilliput world exists when it comes to botanical inclusions entombed in Baltic amber (called succinite), since such specimens are generally no larger than 10 millimeters (mm) in size with a few exceptions.


Baltic amber comprising the largest amber deposits in the world was created over a 10 million year period from 50 million – 40 million BC in a single contiguous forest. This forest, consisting of vast tracts of conifers, likely Pinus succinifera, encompassed Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia comprising the then continent of Fennoscandia.


This amber was formed by fluid, sticky resin secreted by the conifers that grew in the Fennoscandian region. When secreted due to the sub-tropical warmth of the Eocene era, these resins oozed down the sides of trees filling fissures and holes to repair damaged roots, trunks, and branches to protect against bacteria, viruses, and fungal spores that likely would have entered through the distressed tree’s open wounds.


Due to the narrow 10 million year timeframe when extensive quantities of amber deposits were created in the Fennoscandian region, it is likely the Baltic conifers were distressed, suffering from Resinosis (the unnaturally intense production of resin) due to a massive disruption in their physiological balance from shock, caused by a sudden change in climate or considerable contamination of the atmosphere by volcanic ash.1


When these resins hardened protecting specimens from air (oxidation), the elements and microorganisms, inclusions were preserved to the infinitesimal degree with regard to morphology, structure, and sometimes color.


cases, this preservation has been so exquisite that individual cells and nucleic acids have remained largely intact, free from corruption. As a result, the Baltic amber inclusions provide a unique opportunity to view the prehistoric world of


46 In some


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