title: An aptian plant with attached leaves and flowers: implications for angiosperm origin.
abstract: 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 agniosperm wood, and lack of recognition of earlier remains.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Hickey