ABSTRACT
Charles Darwin was referring to the apparently abrupt evolutionary origin and subsequent rapid diversification of the angiosperms. Recent advances in molecular phylogenetic studies have also enhanced our knowledge of angiosperm evolution, as reflected in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification. Li et al. generated and assembled a large DNA dataset comprising 80 genes from 2,881 plastomes and estimated divergence time using a validated set of 62 fossils spread across the angiosperm tree. Thus, it is highly likely that the closest relatives of angiosperms are groups that are known only from fossils. By mapping the character-states of basal angiosperms and other angiosperm species onto molecular phylogenies, it has been possible to reconstruct numerous aspects of the first angiosperms. Thus, the ancestral flower of all angiosperms most likely had a perianth and an androecium organized in whorls, rather than in a spiral. The success of the angiosperms is also attributed to the extensive coevolution with pollinators, herbivores and predators.
