Abstract
Despite of angiosperms in the Yixian Formation (>125 Ma, early Cretaceous), there is no perfect flower typical of angiosperms to date. Here we report Euanthus dilaensis gen. et sp. nov as the earliest perfect flower known to date. The flower includes tepals, androecium and gynoecium. The anthers are globose in form, with bristles atop and in situ round-triangular pollen grains. The gynoecium is composed of probably two carpels with plumose stigmas and a carpel-enclosing receptacle. The discovery of Euanthus increases the diversity of early angiosperms, and indicates that perfect flowers occurred as early as 125 Ma ago.
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Wang, X., Zheng, S. The Earliest Perfect Flower. Nat Prec (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1320.1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1320.1