Using genomic data from more than 9500 species, biologists have mapped the evolutionary relationships between flowering plants

Flowering plants - from corn, wheat, rice and potatoes to maple, oak, apple and cherry trees as well as roses, tulips, daisies and dandelions and even the corpse flower and voodoo lily - are cornerstones of Earth's ecosystems and essential for humankind.

With their own botanical collection material and their research knowledge on the evolution of cruciferous plants (plants of the cabbage family), bioscientists at Heidelberg University have contributed to a large-scale international study that has produced a comprehensive "tree of life" for flowering plants.

A new paper published today in the journal Nature presents the most up-to-date understanding of the flowering plant tree of life; the paper was authored by an international team of 279 scientists that included two scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History and was led by the Royal Botanic Gardens,