Origin and evolution of flowering plants

Today we have about 230,000 angiosperm species, forming about 89% of all plants, only 0.29% gymnosperms; there are about 4% ferns, 3.61% mosses, 2.28% liverworts, but only 0.38% lycopods and 0.05% horsetails. From the Middle Devonian – the era of evolution of the first trees and shrubs – about 395 million years ago and the Carboniferous-Permian boundary, in a time interval of only 100 million years, all main tribes existing today such as lycopods, horsetails, ferns or gymnosperms, including conifers, gingkos and cycads, as well as all the insect groups had been present and fully evolved.

All the following 300 million years succeeded only in segmentation and break- down to further genera and species. Therefore, the question is allowed: Where were in all this time the angiosperms? The evolution of flowering plants represents till now one of the central questions of natural science. The angiosperm fossil record confirmed in the 19th century the rich radiation of flowering plants between the Early and Middle-Late Cretaceous, but not before.

Charles Darwin was extremely distressed by the abrupt origin and fast spreading of the flowering plants in the Cretaceous in complete contrast to his theory about the slow evolution of plants and animals through millions of years. Therefore, he speculated a slow evolution on an extinct or destroyed landscape or a lost continent.

If we are able to find flora-elements may- be on a “dark continent” prior to the Cretaceous with many of these properties, we come nearer to the answer of the “abominable mystery.” From the Silurian-Devonian period – when the first plants evolved – Siberia and the Urals occupied a position apart from other landmasses, throughout the Carboniferous till the Permian. This northern landmass called Angara – for a long time, till the Triassic period – formed an isolated continent with independent floras and faunas. Isolated from the other landmasses, this community remained unique for millions of years.