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DNA studies are rapidly advancing to make the evolutionary history of the flowering plants clearer. Considering that plant taxonomy has its roots in the 1700s, it is gratifying that the classification we are used to (based on plant structure) is turning out to be "more right than wrong". But there are substantial changes afoot and I will try to describe them here alongside the "current" descriptions of each family of flowers featured in this WIKI.
(Oxford University Botanic Garden is re-arranging its whole planting scheme to accommodate the new knowledge.)
The full story requires careful reading of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's papers but a simplified summary of the current thinking follows here.
The descent of the Angiosperms is now thought to have progressed like this:
ANGIOSPERMS ________|________ | | ________|________ Amborellaceae (Not Europe) | | ________|________ Nymphaeaceae | | | AUSTROBAILEYALES (Not Europe) _________________|___________________ | | ____|____ ___________|____________ | | | | | | CERATOPHYLLALES | | Chloranthaceae (Not Europe) | Ceratophyllaceae | | | | | EUDICOTS MONOCOTS MAGNOLIIDS
Note that the Nymphaeaceae branched off before all other European plant types. The major change at the bottom of the diagram is the disappearance of the Dicots. It turns out that this group of plants does not contain all the descendents of one common ancestor so it has to go and most (but not all) Dicots are now Eudicots.