OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Lotus relative — Nelumbago montanum

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier

Date / Period

Latest Cretaceous — Maastrichtian · Latest Cretaceous Hell Creek floral interval.

Object Type

leaf

Medium

representative_scientific_visual

About This Object

Geologic period: Latest Cretaceous — Maastrichtian

Age: Latest Cretaceous Hell Creek floral interval.

Feeding: Photosynthetic plant.

Body plan: Aquatic angiosperm represented here only by leaf material.

Evidence: Leaf form and venation are direct fossil evidence. Whole-plant architecture and ecology are reconstructed using comparable fossil occurrences.

Why it matters: The leaf reconstructs the habitat around the dinosaurs. Hell Creek was not an empty stage with dinosaurs standing on bare ground—it contained diverse flowering-plant communities.

Plain Language Identity: A fossil leaf from an aquatic flowering plant related in form to lotus-like plants of the latest Cretaceous.

What You Are Looking At: A fossil leaf preserving the shape and venation of Nelumbago montanum.

Ecosystem: Freshwater river, pond or wetland environment.

Preservation: Leaf compression or impression.

Room Context Note: Nelumbago is part of the environmental story, not merely background decoration. Plant fossils are primary evidence for reconstructing Hell Creek habitats.

Open Questions: Do not reconstruct flower color or full plant appearance without additional fossil evidence.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; display reconstruction separated from evidence; provenance uncertainty retained

Scientific name: Nelumbago montanum

Evidence / representation: Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

T. rex & Triceratops: The Last American Dinosaur World.

Provenance

Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Main Circulation Path and Age of Humans Bridge

Exhibition History

Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.

Subjects & Themes

Nelumbago montanum Latest Cretaceous — Maastrichtian leaf Main Circulation Path and Age of Humans Bridge T. rex & Triceratops

ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

This object page stays inside SAGE Museum. The Smithsonian link below is provided only as the original scholarly collection record. It opens separately.