This study, the third in the series of virtual issues of Palaeontology, examines the contributions the journal has made to the field of palaeobotany from 1961 onwards. I offer a personal selection of six papers representing four decades of research, with a range of specific geographical (Canada, Australia, China), temporal (Mesozoic, Devonian, Silurian) or more general (cycads, palynology, stratigraphy) focus.