Amborella trichopoda
Botanic Garden
Recent DNA-based studies of flowering plants have provided a new understanding of their evolutionary relationships, showing for the first time that Amborella trichopoda is the closest living relative of the first flowering plant. Today it grows as an under-storey evergreen shrub high in the montane forests of New Caledonia, a remote island in the Western Pacific. In 2007 seeds were collected by Botanic Garden Director Professor Simon Hiscock and successfully germinated at the Botanic Garden. The resulting plants will eventually go on display, and in the future will provide resources for researchers investigating the evolutionary biology of flowering plants.
- Photographer: William (Ned) Friedman
- Copyright: University of Bristol
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