Amber was produced by a certain type of pine Pinus succinifera. This is confirmed by the anatomic structure of the wood found in amber and chemical composition of amber. These pines had naturally typical features as well as influences on growth conditions to emit considerably higher amounts of sap when compared to modern pine trees (today there‘s not a single type of pine that would emit such amounts of resin or would be related to amber trees). The purpose of conifer sap is to protect the wood and the whole tree from unfavorable environmental influences – mostly from rot and parasites. The filled wood layers become resin and doesn‘t allow the tree to rot. Extremely high resin emission isn‘t normal, because a big part of the valuable materials needed for the tree to grow is used up to produce sap. For this reason the trees weaken and might even become extinct.
During the formation of amber (at the beginning of middle Eocene period) Europe‘s climate was changing: it became warmer and more humid. With the changing climate the positions of the climate zones changed as well. Pines best growing in the middle climate zone had to adapt to the changed environmental conditions. All conifer trees react to any climate change by either increasing or decreasing the amount of sap they produce. When climate started changing in the Paleocene period to the end of the Eocene period it changed to sub-tropical. Unstable climate, changed air temperature, increased humidity of the air and soil influenced the growth processes of conifer trees – amber tree sap emission increased and from this sap amber started to form.
Chemical analysis, such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), allows researchers to examine the organic compounds present in amber and compare them to modern pine resins. By analyzing the molecular composition, scientists can pinpoint specific chemical markers unique to pine trees, providing crucial evidence to support the long-established link between amber and these ancient arboreal guardians.
The amber-yielding pine Pinus succinifera (Conw.) Schubert was described as early as the 19th century as the mother-tree of Baltic amber or succinite, the earliest known among fossil resins. The name, common for four species of conifers, today does not satisfy researchers. The search for amber’s mother-tree, best known on the southern beaches of the Baltic and Sambi
In h. r. Goeppert-collection, being about 150 years old, of the Geology Museum of the University Wroclaw, Muzeum Geologicznego Uniwersytetu Wroławskiego, wood samples of the original material of Pinites succinifer Goeppert 1883 were found. This material con- sists of wood structures partially converted into tree resin and later fossilized into amber. From this arose the possibility of connecting the infrared spectra of the fossil resin with the corresponding taxonomy of the source tree.
The anatomy of this fossil wood was investigated and compared with other fossil and living wood. The investigations revealed an extinct species of Pinus L.: Pinuxylon succiniferum Goeppert (kraeusel) emend. Dolezych.