Phylogeny and Evolution of the Angiosperms: Revised and Updated Edition

Although they are relative latecomers on the evolutionary scene, having emerged only 135‒170 million years ago, angiosperms—or flowering plants—are the most diverse and species-rich group of seed-producing land plants, comprising more than 15,000 genera and over 350,000 species. Not only are they a model group for studying the patterns and processes of evolutionary diversification, they also play major roles in our economy, diet, and courtship rituals, producing our fruits, legumes, and grains, not to mention the flowers in our Valentine’s bouquets. They are also crucial ecologically, dominating most terrestrial and some aquatic landscapes.

This fully revised edition of Phylogeny and Evolution of the Angiosperms provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of the evolution of and relationships among these vital plants. Incorporating molecular phylogenetics with morphological, chemical, developmental, and paleobotanical data, as well as presenting a more detailed account of early angiosperm fossils and important fossil information for each evolutionary branch of the angiosperms, the new edition integrates fossil evidence into a robust phylogenetic framework. Featuring a wealth of new color images, this highly synthetic work further reevaluates long-held evolutionary hypotheses related to flowering plants and will be an essential reference for botanists, plant systematists, and evolutionary biologists alike.

Douglas Soltis and Pamela Soltis are distinguished professors in the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. Together, they are coeditors of multiple books, including Polyploidy and Genome Evolution and, with Jeff J. Doyle, MolecularSystematics of Plants. Peter Endress is professor emeritus of botany at the University of Zurich. He is the author of Diversity and Evolutionary Biology of Tropical Flowers and coeditor of Early Evolution of Flowers. Mark Chase is former director of the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is the author of Orchids: The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Oncidium. Steven Manchester is curator in the Division of Paleobotany at the Florida Museum of Natural History and one of the leading paleobotanists in the world. Walter Judd is distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Biology at the University of Florida and affiliate curator in botany at the Florida Museum of Natural History. He is coauthor of Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach. Lucas Majure is a biologist of New World succulents at the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona. Evgeny Mavrodiev is an associate scientist at the Florida Museum of Natural History.