Ancestor of Flowering Plants Believed Found

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The ancestor of all the grains, fruits and blossoms of the modern world may have been a fragile water plant that lived in a Chinese lake 125 million years ago. The plant, called Archaefructus sinensis for “ancient fruit from China,” is of a species never before seen and carries the clear characteristics of the most primitive of flowering plants, said David Dilcher of the University of Florida.

“It is like the mother of all flowering plants,” said Dilcher, co-author of a study appearing in the May 3 issue of Science. “It changes our whole impression of what is the oldest of all flowering plants.” Botanists had long considered a woody plant from New Caledonia as the most ancient of flowering plants. The discovery also suggests that flowering plants got their start as herbs growing in shallow pools and were able to reproduce quickly, a distinct advantage for survival, said Dilcher.