Earliest flowers

The earliest flowers are those of the coontail-like fossil aquatic freshwater plant Montsechia vidalii, which were formally recognized and described in PNAS on 17 August 2015 from Spanish fossils dating back approximately 130 million years to the Early Cretaceous Period. Its fossilized remains are macrofossils consisting of stems with leaf structures and tiny flowers, not merely samples of pollen. More than a thousand specimens have been studied, and were known about for over a century before their palaeobotanical significance was recognized.

Prior to the recognition of Montsechia's flowers, there had been considerable conjecture and controversy as to which species had the earliest bona fide flowers. A popular contender was Archaefructus sinensis ("ancient fruit from China"), whose discovery had been publicly announced on 3 May 2002. Approximately 125 million years old (Early Cretaceous), it was found in a slab of stone in north-east China. Its closest-living relative may be the water lily, as the ancient plant lived in clear shallow water, with its flowers and seeds extending above the surface.