Rutgers scientist-sleuth finds ancient plant locked in amber

More than 15 million years ago, the delicate flowers fell to the floor of a muggy, tropical forest, and somehow did not rot and wither away. Instead, they were trapped in sticky globs of tree resin, hardened into amber, and carried on the high seas to what is now a Caribbean mountain range. The first Lena Struwe heard of all this was when she opened an email at Rutgers University last April, depicting the fragile petals trapped in golden splendor.