had male and female parts
By Laura Geggel Senior Writer Published August 02, 2017
A 3D model of the reconstructed ancestral flower. It has both female (carpels) and male (stamens) parts, and multiple whorls of petal-like organs in sets of three.
A 3D model of the reconstructed ancestral flower. It has both female (carpels) and male (stamens) parts, and multiple whorls of petal-like organs in sets of three. (Hervé Sauquet and Jürg Schönenberger)
When the world's first flower sprouted about 140 million years ago, it was bisexual, possessing both male and female reproductive parts, according to the researchers who virtually reconstructed the blossom in a new study.
The discovery of the dinosaur-age posy sheds light on the evolution and diversification of flowering plants, or angiosperms, the largest group of plants on Earth, the researchers said. For instance, the reconstruction shows how the ancient flower differed from its numerous modern descendants.
"The petal-like parts and the stamens [male reproductive organs in a flower] were more numerous than in most living species, and were probably organized in multiple sets of three," said the study's lead researcher, Hervé Sauquet, an associate professor at the Laboratory of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution at the University of Paris-Sud in France. [Photos: Ancient Flowering Plant May Have Lived with Dinosaurs]
By Laura Geggel Senior Writer Published August 02, 2017
A 3D model of the reconstructed ancestral flower. It has both female (carpels) and male (stamens) parts, and multiple whorls of petal-like organs in sets of three.
A 3D model of the reconstructed ancestral flower. It has both female (carpels) and male (stamens) parts, and multiple whorls of petal-like organs in sets of three. (Hervé Sauquet and Jürg Schönenberger)
When the world's first flower sprouted about 140 million years ago, it was bisexual, possessing both male and female reproductive parts, according to the researchers who virtually reconstructed the blossom in a new study.
The discovery of the dinosaur-age posy sheds light on the evolution and diversification of flowering plants, or angiosperms, the largest group of plants on Earth, the researchers said. For instance, the reconstruction shows how the ancient flower differed from its numerous modern descendants.
"The petal-like parts and the stamens [male reproductive organs in a flower] were more numerous than in most living species, and were probably organized in multiple sets of three," said the study's lead researcher, Hervé Sauquet, an associate professor at the Laboratory of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution at the University of Paris-Sud in France. [Photos: Ancient Flowering Plant May Have Lived with Dinosaurs]