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Floral flexibility: Diversification of the flower

Angiosperm evolution involves a major transition from spiral to whorled arrangements of floral organs. Examination of the genetic programs specifying floral organ identity in Nigella damascene, a species of Ranunculaceae with spiral flowers, illuminates the molecular basis of how spiral flowers can have flexible numbers of floral organs.

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Figure 1: Flowers of Magnolia champaca (Magnoliaceae) showing the spiral arrangement of floral organs typical of many basal angiosperm lineages.

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Correspondence to Douglas E. Soltis.

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Soltis, D. Floral flexibility: Diversification of the flower. Nature Plants 2, 15211 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.211

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.211

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