SHENYANG, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Fossils of a large amount of Triassic plants, rare in the Far East, have been found in northeast China's Liaoning province.

More than 40 fossils include plants of filicopsida, seed ferns, conifer and ginkgo, said Zhang Yi of Shenyang Normal University college of paleontology. They were found last December in Benxi of Liaoning.

This was the only discovery of Triassic flora fossils in northeast China, Zhang said.

Mid Triassic period follows a mass extinction and few plant fossils were preserved. A category of plants discovered was named after the city Benxi.

"The Triassic was a key transitional period from late Paleozoic era to Mesozoic," said Zhang Yi. "The fossils are quite valuable to study geological changes."