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The Aptian (125–113 Ma) is the fifth age of the Early Cretaceous, occurring after the Barremian, and before the Albian.
The Aptian has the earliest confirmed evidence of flowering plants on Earth. This group probably appeared slightly earlier than the Aptian, but this assumption comes from indirect evidence.
Geologic Age
Geologic Age
125.0–113.0 Ma
Eon / Era / Period / Epoch
Eon / Era / Period / Epoch
Above: Fossils and reconstructions of Archaefructus (Sun et al., 2002)
Below: The leaves of Potomacapnos apeleutheron (Jud and Hickey, 2013)
What happened during this time?
What happened during this time?
Angiosperms spread to the under-story floodplains.
One of earliest known angiosperms, Archaefructus appears (Sun et al., 2002)
Herbaceous, aquatic plant (125 Ma)
Carpels and stamens produced on elongate stem
The structures lack petals or sepals
Stamens proximal; carpals distal
Is the elongate stem in Archaefructus the receptacle of a single flower (with many carpals/stamens), or an inflorescence with many apetalous flowers?
Depending on the above answer, Archaefructus may not be basal within angiosperms
Close to Nymphaeales or basal eudicots.
Potomacapnos apeleutheron, a eudicot from the Aptian, is also one of the oldest angiosperms (Jud and Hickey, 2013)
The fossil most closely resembles a modern subfamily of poppies, called the Fumarioideae
The eudicots are thought to be more derived, which may push back the origin of angiosperms to the very beginning of the Cretaceous
Earliest evidence of filmy ferns (Hymenophyllaceae) from ~120 Ma (Herrera et al., 2017)
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
Flowers have been blooming on Earth for 123 million years, pollen grains reveal (Phys.org 20May2025)
└Gravendyck et al. (2025) Barremian tricolpate pollen from Portugal—New evidence for the age of eudicot-related angiosperms
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