Early Evolution of Flowers

About this book

The discovery of a large number of excellently preserved fossil flowers, studied with new techniques, and the comparative study of the flowers of extant basal clades of the angiosperms revolutionized the conception of early flower evolution. Early Evolution of Flowers brings together contributions of 17 palaeo- and neobotanists including critical reviews on the origin of flowers and the homologies of angiosperm floral organs, on the relationships of floral traits of magnoliids to those of lower eudicots (ranunculids, hamamelidids, dilleniids) and monocots, and articles on particular new Cretaceous fossils and new results on extant groups. These studies also influence the notion of early angiosperm evolution and of the macrosystematics of flowering plants.

Contents

- Introduction-Major trends in the study of early flower evolution
- Origin of the angiosperm flower: a phylogenetic perspective
- Angiosperm floral structures from the Early Cretaceous of Portugal
- Palaeobotanical evidence on the early radiation of magnoliid angiosperms
- Flowers of Turonian Magnoliidae and their implications
- Patterns of floral evolution in the early diversification of non-magnoliid dicotyledons (eudicots)
- Elsemaria, a Late Cretaceous angiosperm fructification from Hokkaido, Japan
- Ontogeny of staminate and carpellate flowers of Schisandra glabra (Schisandraceae)
- Floral aspects of Barclaya (Nymphaeaceae): pollination, ontogeny and structure
- Evolutionary aspects of the floral structure in Ceratophyllum
- Petal evolution in Ranunculaceae
- Flowers in Magnoliidae and the origin of flowers in other subclasses of the angiosperms. I. The relationships between flowers of Magnoliidae and Alismatidae
- Flowers in Magnoliidae and the origin of flowers in other subclasses of the angiosperms. II. The relationships between flowers of Magnoliidae, Dilleniidae, and Caryophyllidae
- Taxonomic Index

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