A plant that had no petals and lived underwater approximately 130 million years ago could be the oldest known ‘flower’, according to scientists. Montsechia vidalii once grew abundantly in freshwater lakes in what are now mountainous regions in Spain. Montsechia was classified as a flowering plant because it produced seeds enclosed within a carpel (the female reproductive organ of a flower). The modern descendant of this ancient plant is Caratophyllum, a dark green aquatic plant popularly used in aquariums.
Researchers from the US, France and Germany have analyzed more than 1,000 fossils of the little plant by painstakingly applying drops of hydrochloric acid to remove the leaves and stems from the rock, carefully bleaching the plant’s protective cuticle to better reveal their shapes and examining the specimen under a stereo microscope, light microscope and scanning electron microscope.
This precise observation led to a new identification for Montsechia, that being so small and not having the obvious features of angiosperms was not previously recognized as a flowering plant. Even though it also didn’t have petals or nectar-producing structures, Montsechia did have fruits, each containing a single tiny seed.
Picture Credit : Google
