![Magnolia champaca](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Douglas_Soltis/publication/289601157/figure/fig1/AS:315846875467797@1452315172434/Figure-1-Flowers-of-Magnolia-champaca-Magnoliaceae-showing-the-spiral-arrangement-of.png)
Soltis, D. E. 2016. Floral flexibility: Diversification of the flower. Nature Plants 2:15211. [View at publisher’s site] [View on ResearchGate]
Abstract
Angiosperm evolution involves a major transition from spiral to whorled arrangements of floral organs. Examination of the genetic programs specifying floral organ identity in Nigella damascene, a species of Ranunculaceae with spiral flowers, illuminates the molecular basis of how spiral flowers can have flexible numbers of floral organs.