Xingxueanthus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of flowering plants}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil_range|Middle Jurassic}}

| image =

| image_caption =

| regnum = Plantae

| unranked_divisio = ?Angiosperms

| genus = Xingxueanthus

| genus_authority = Xin Wang & Shijun Wang, 2010

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = *X. sinensis Xin Wang & Shijun Wang, 2010 (type)

}}

Xingxueanthus is an extinct genus of plants of dubious affinity which existed in China during the middle Jurassic period.{{cite journal |author1=Xin Wang |author2=Shijun Wang |year=2010 |title=Xingxueanthus: An Enigmatic Jurassic Seed Plant and Its Implications for the Origin of Angiospermy|journal= Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=47–55 |doi=10.1111/j.1755-6724.2010.00169.x|bibcode=2010AcGlS..84...47W |s2cid=140739086 }} It was first named by Xin Wang and Shijun Wang in 2010 and the type species is Xingxueanthus sinensis.

Xingxueanthus is known only from a single specimen of carbonized inflorescence. There is debate as to the taxonomic position of Xingxueanthus, being either an early Angiosperm, a new class of Gymnosperm, or a poorly preserved conipherophyte cone.{{Cite journal|last1=Coiro|first1=Mario|last2=Doyle|first2=James A.|last3=Hilton|first3=Jason|title=How deep is the conflict between molecular and fossil evidence on the age of angiosperms?|journal=New Phytologist|language=en|pages=83–99|doi=10.1111/nph.15708|pmid=30681148|issn=1469-8137|year=2019|volume=223|issue=1 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2019NewPh.223...83C }}