The World's First Flower Probably Looked Like The Modern-Day Magnolia

Scientists have long known that the world’s first flower bloomed between 250 million and 140 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs dominated the earth. The single mutation was so successful that flowering plants, or Angiosperms, now make up almost 90% of all plant species, far outnumbering seed plants like conifers, that appeared on earth much earlier, between 350 million and 310 million years ago. The emergence of flowers not only made the world more beautiful and vibrant but also led to the evolution of bees and other pollinating insects. Hence, it is important to understand how they may have evolved over the years.