"The structure and organization of ancestral flowers remains mysterious," said Dr. Jason Hilton of the University of Birmingham, UK, who was not involved in the study. "For example, we do not know whether the oldest flowers are single or bisexual, or are they pollinated by wind or insects. "
To reconstruct this first flower appearance, the scientists recorded features, such as petals and sepals - flowers from 792 living species.
They mapped the distribution of this feature to the flower plant evolutionary tree that enabled them to construct a flower display image at key points in their history - including the last ancestor of all living flowers.
The evolution of sex on flowers has been heavily debated. Flowers can be singular or bisexual and this study concludes early bisexual interest with both male and female organs.
