Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Thursday - June 14, 2007
From: Chester, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: General Botany
Title: Identification of first flower on Earth
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
When was the first on Earth and who find it and what was the name of the flower. Also what part of the Earth was if find?ANSWER:
We think you're asking the name of the earth's first flowering plant. If so, the answer is no one really knows. There are different camps in the scientific community disputing the lineage of flowering plants and the place of fossil finds in that lineage.
Many believe that an ancestor of a plant still living in New Caledonia, Amborella trichopoda, was the world's first flowering plant, arising perhaps 140-million years or so ago.
Another candidate is a relative of the fossil plant, Archaefructus sinensis, discovered in China by the scientist Sun Ge.
The search for identity of the world's first angiosperm is a challenge that many botanists find irresistable. To keep the challenge interesting, the fossil record and new genetic discoveries have a way of continually changing our "current" way of thinking So the book on the mystery of the first flower almost certainly has chapters yet to be written.
More General Botany Questions
Smarty Plants on temperature
October 18, 2005 - Mr.Smarty Plants, I am a student at Hill Freedman Middle school and I have a science fair coming up. I really need a answer to this question "What effect does temperature have on the growth of plants...
view the full question and answer
Do plants grow faster in natural or artificial light?
March 13, 2009 - Do you think plants will grow faster in natural light or artificial light or a combination of both? And why do you think that. and need your answer for my biology project please and thank you for your...
view the full question and answer
Smarty Plants on Wildflowerology
July 08, 2005 - I know there is a word for everything, but I can't find the offical word for the study of wildflowers. Wildflowerology just doesn't sound right. Can you help?
view the full question and answer
Will a Venus flytrap bite?
December 01, 2008 - Will a venus flytrap bite a person?
Taylor
view the full question and answer
Problem With Vegetable Garden Soil
June 09, 2013 - We live in Liberty Hill on 25 acres and we are working to restore native grasses and plants. We are ardent supporters of the Wildflower center. I say this because my question is not "typical" of wh...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |