E-Mail IMAGE: The type of specimen the new plant is based on, preserving the crown of the tree with leaves and its fertile organs attached to the stem view more Credit: NIGPAS A recent study on spectacular fossil plants preserved in a volcanic ash fall deposit--known as China's "vegetational Pompeii," in Inner Mongolia, China--has resolved a mystery that puzzled palaeontology for over a century: What are Noeggerathiales? The study, published in PNAS on March 8, was led by Prof. WANG Jun from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) and by Prof. David Dilcher from Indiana University (USA). Researchers from the UK, Czech Republic and Austria were also involved.