An Aptian Plant with Attached Leaves and Flowers: Implications for Angiosperm Origin

Recent phylogenetic studies and fossil finds support a new view of the ancestral angiosperm. A diminutive fossil angiosperm from the Aptian of Australia has attached leaves, with intermediate pinnate-palmate, low-rank venation, and lateral axes bearing pistillate organs subtended by bracts and bracteoles that are the oldest direct evidence of flowers. A variety of data suggests a similar morphology for the ancestral angiosperm. This hypothesis explains similarities between rhizomatous to herbaceous Magnoliidae and basal monocots, scarcity of early angiosperm wood, and lack of recognition of earlier remains.