Amborella: The First Genus of Flowers 130 Million Years ago

Amborella is a genus of rare understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the island of New Caledonia.

The genus consists of only a single species, Amborella trichopoda, and is the only member of the family Amborellaceae.

Wood of Amborella lacks the vessels characteristic of most flowering plants.

It is of great interest to plant systematists because molecular phylogenetic analyses consistently place it at or near the base of the flowering plant lineage.

That is, it represents a line of flowering plants that diverged very early on (about 130 million years ago) from all the other extant species of flowering plants.

Comparing characteristics of this basal angiosperm, other flowering plants and fossils may provide clues about how flowers first appeared—what Darwin called the "abominable mystery".