Paleobotanist identifies what could be the worlds first flower
Paleobotanists have identified a 125 million- to 130 million-year-old freshwater plant Montsechia vidalii from Spain as one of earliest flowering plants on Earth. "A 'first flower' is technically a myth, like the 'first human,'" said Dilcher, an internationally recognized expert on angiosperm anatomy and morphology. The conclusions are based upon careful analyses of more than 1,000 fossilized remains of Montsechia, whose stems and leaf structures were coaxed from stone by applying hydrochloric acid on a drop-by-drop basis. The plant's cuticles the protective film covering the leaves that reveals their shape were also carefully bleached using a mixture of nitric acid and potassium chlorate. Examination of the specimens was conducted under a stereomicroscope, light microscope and scanning electron microscope.
Ref: David L. Dilcherd et al. 2015, PNAS.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1509241112
