Land vascular plants originated in the Late Silurian and Early Devonian,atout 400 million years ago.In the evolution of plant kingdom,vascular plants have been developing very well in adaptation to terristral enviroment by the change of their configurations.Most historical plants have been extinct.New and important data of anatomical sturctures of fossil plants from Silurian to Tertiary have been accumulated in China in the last two decades.Anatomical stuctures of fossil plants,including 54 species of ferns,gymnosperms and angiosperms in China,are described and illustrated in the Atlas,Delicate photographs of light and scanning electron microscopes show the details of epidermal cuticle,ground tissues and vascular structures of leaves,stems,roots,sporangia and seeds.