Flowering Plants: How They Transformed Earth
- Flowering plants, known as angiosperms, transformed the Earth's landscape after their emergence roughly 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.These plants quickly diversified,leading to the vast array...
- Before angiosperms, the world resembled a Japanese garden, according to Dale Russell, a paleontologist with North Carolina State University.
- The key innovation of angiosperms lies in their seeds being enclosed within carpels, unlike the open cones of conifers.
The Rise of Flowering Plants: A Botanical Revolution
updated may 28, 2025
Flowering plants, known as angiosperms, transformed the Earth’s landscape after their emergence roughly 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.These plants quickly diversified,leading to the vast array of flowering species seen today.
Before angiosperms, the world resembled a Japanese garden, according to Dale Russell, a paleontologist with North Carolina State University. Afterward, it blossomed into an English garden, teeming with color and visited by butterflies and bees.
The key innovation of angiosperms lies in their seeds being enclosed within carpels, unlike the open cones of conifers. this characteristic, derived from the Greek words for vessel and seed, has been crucial to their success. botanist Walter Judd of Florida University notes that humans wouldn’t exist without flowering plants, highlighting their importance as a food source for both humans and animals.
The origins of flowering plants have long intrigued scientists, including Charles Darwin. Fossil discoveries across Asia, Australia, europe, and North America, combined with genetic analysis, have fueled modern paleobotany. Elizabeth Zimmer, a molecular biologist with the Smithsonian institution, analyzed DNA to trace the genealogy of flowering plants, identifying amborella trichopoda as a long-living lineage dating back at least 130 million years.
Early flowers were likely small and unadorned, lacking prominent petals. Paleobotanist Chris Hill discovered a fossil,Bevhalstia Abuja,resembling a tiny broccoli sprout,suggesting the first flowers were simple and aquatic.these early angiosperms thrived in disrupted environments like floodplains and volcanic zones, adapting rapidly to new conditions.
The evolution of petals, around 90 to 100 million years ago, sparked a significant increase in flowering plant species, known as the great radiation. Else Marie Friis, head of paleobotany at the Swedish Natural History Museum, explained that petals attracted insect pollinators, leading to coevolution between plants and insects.
Insects became crucial for pollen distribution, with flowers developing patterns, fragrances, and nectar to attract them. Dinosaurs also played a role, unintentionally clearing land and dispersing seeds. Kirk Johnson of Nature & Science Museum Denver found evidence that hadrosaurs consumed angiosperm leaves before their extinction.
After the dinosaurs’ demise, mammals benefited from angiosperm foods, including seeds and nuts. Paleobotanist david Dilcher of the Natural History Museum of Florida described this as a “handshake” between kingdoms, with plants providing food and animals dispersing seeds.
humans further cultivated angiosperms, leading to the widespread success of crops like corn and rice. Today, nearly all non-meat food originates from flowering plants, and even cotton is an angiosperm. Jan Lanning, a senior consultant with the Dutch Wholesale Commission, emphasized the emotional connection people have with flowers, highlighting their importance in daily life.
Flowers intrigued