鹅掌楸属(Liriodendron)是起源于第三纪的古老植物。分布甚广,在晚侏罗纪及下白垩纪已分布到格陵兰、北美、阿拉斯加、北欧及澳洲等地。在中欧、北美及格陵兰岛上白垩纪地层中都曾发现可靠的化石。该属在地球史上曾辉煌一时,曾是一个兴旺的大家族。在新生代时有10多种。新生代初,曾生存于冰岛。 Liriodendron is an ancient plant that originated in the Tertiary. Widely distributed in the late Jurassic and the Lower Cretaceous has been distributed to Greenland, North America, Alaska, Northern Europe and Australia. Reliable fossils have been found in Cretaceous strata on Central Europe, North America and Greenland. The genus was brilliant in the history of the earth, once a prosperous big family. In the Cenozoic more than 10 kinds. Early Cenozoic, had lived in Iceland.