A recent study examines the diversity and complexity of plants throughout Earth’s paleontological record. A team led by Andrew B. Leslie (Stanford University) published an article in the journal Science entitled “Reproductive Innovations & Pulsed Rise in Plant Complexity.” While that title sounds complicated, the implications are not.
In short, as land plants have evolved, so too has their complexity and diversity, particularly in their reproductive structures and strategies. Two key “pulses” are noticeable. First, the origin of seeds, which took place in the late Devonian Period some 370 million years ago. Second, the origin of flowering plants during the mid-Cretaceous Period 80 to 115 million years ago.