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Fossil evidence of water lilies (Nymphaeales) in the Early Cretaceous

Nature volume 410, pages 357–360 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Phylogenetic analyses have identified the water lilies (Nymphaeales: Cabombaceae and Nymphaeaceae), together with four other small groups of flowering plants (the ‘ANITA clades’: Amborellaceae, Illiciales, Trimeniaceae, Austrobaileyaceae), as the first diverging lineages from the main branch of the angiosperm phylogenetic tree1,2,3,4, but evidence of these groups in the earliest phases of the angiosperm fossil record has remained elusive. Here we report the earliest unequivocal evidence, based on fossil floral structures and associated pollen, of fossil plants related to members of the ANITA clades. This extends the history of the water lilies (Nymphaeales) back to the Early Cretaceous (125–115 million years) and into the oldest fossil assemblages that contain unequivocal angiosperm stamens and carpels. This discovery adds to the growing congruence between results from molecular-based analyses of relationships among angiosperms and the palaeobotanical record. It is also consistent with previous observations that the flowers of early angiosperms were generally very small5 compared with those of their living relatives.

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Figure 1: Fossil water lily flower from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian or Aptian) of Portugal, a–c, SEM micrographs of specimen S122015, Vale de Agua sample 328.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. K. Endress and J. Schönenberger for valuable comments and help; and P. von Knorring for preparing the reconstruction of the fossil flower. The work was supported by grants from the Swedish Natural Science Foundation (to E.M.F.), the Carlsberg Foundation (to K.R.P. and E.M.F.), the Danish Natural Science Research Council (to K.R.P.) and the US National Science Foundation (to P.R.C.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, Stockholm, SE-104 05, Sweden

    Else Marie Friis

  2. Department of Geology, University of Aarhus, Universitetsparken, Århus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen

  3. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK

    Peter R. Crane

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Correspondence to Else Marie Friis.

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Friis, E., Pedersen, K. & Crane, P. Fossil evidence of water lilies (Nymphaeales) in the Early Cretaceous. Nature 410, 357–360 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35066557

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