Basal Eudicots

Basal Eudicots

The phrase "Basal Eudicots" may be outdated & a paraphyletic concept but it seems to help me mentally organize plants.   

Having lots of stamens is probably an ancestral characteristic in the angiosperms.  (Wind pollination is probably derived!)

Characteristics:  Many stamens, actinomorphic (radially symmetrical) flower, generalized pollination where many insects could pollinate as they roam around the flower, many separate carpels in individual flowers (true in the Caltha but not in the Podophyllum)

Ranunculales is one of the plant orders that is considered a Basal Eudicot & you can see the loads of stamens on these pretty flowers.  They are also nice and symmetrical, and you can even see the multiple carpels on the top picture.

Culley, T. M., S. G. Weller, and A. K. Sakai. 2002. The evolution of wind pollination in angiosperms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:361-369

Friedman, J., & Barrett, S. C. 2009. Wind of change: new insights on the ecology and evolution of pollination and mating in wind-pollinated plants. Annals of Botany, 103(9), 1515-1527.

Caltha palustris

Podophyllum peltatum