A review of paleobotanical studies of the Early Eocene Okanagan (Okanogan) Highlands floras of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA.

The history of plant fossil collecting in the Okanagan (Okanogan) Highlands of British Columbia and northeastern Washington is closely intertwined with the history of geological surveys and mining activities from the 1870’s onward. The first descriptions of fossil plants from British Columbia were published in 1870–1920 by J.W. Dawson, G.M. Dawson and D.P. Penhallow. In the U.S.A., fossil leaves and fish were first recognized at Republic by miners in the early 1900's. Many early workers considered these floras to be of Oligocene or Miocene age. Arnold described Canadian occurrences of conifers and Azolla in the 1950’s. Palynological studies in the 1960’s by Hills, Rouse and others and those of fossil fish by Wilson in the 1970–80’s provided the framework for paleobotanical research at several key localities. Permineralized plants were first described from the Princeton chert in the 1970’s by Miller, Basinger and others, followed by Stockey and her students. Wehr and Johnson revitalized the study of fossils at Republic with the discovery of a diverse assemblage in 1977. In 1987 Wolfe and Wehr produced a USGS monograph on Republic and Wehr cofounded the Stonerose Interpretive Center as a venue for public collecting. Systematic studies of the Okanagan Highlands plants, as well as paleoecological and paleoclimate reconstructions from palynomorphs and leaf floras, continue to expand our understanding of this important Early Eocene assemblage.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author