Anthophyta

The anthophytes are a paraphyletic grouping of plant taxa bearing flower-like reproductive structures. The group, once thought to be a clade,¹ contained the angiosperms – the extant flowering plants, such as roses and grasses – as well as the Gnetales and the extinct Bennettitales.¹

Detailed morphological and molecular studies have shown that the group is not actually monophyletic,² with proposed floral homologies of the gnetophytes and the angiosperms having evolved in parallel.³ This makes it easier to reconcile molecular clock data that suggests that the angiosperms diverged from the gymnosperms around 320-300 mya.⁴

Some more recent studies have used the word anthophyte to describe a hypothetical group which includes the angiosperms and a variety of extinct seed plant groups (with various suggestions including at least some of the following groups: glossopterids, corystosperms, Petriellales, Pentoxylales, Bennettitales and Caytoniales), but not the Gnetales.⁵⁶