Plant journal
Amborella
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Short Description
Amborella is a monotypic genus of understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the main island, Grande Terre, of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The genus is the only member of the family Amborellaceae and the order Amborellales and contains a single species, Amborella trichopoda. Amborella is of great interest to plant systematists because molecular phylogenetic analyses consistently place it as the sister group to all other flowering plants, meaning it was the earliest group to evolve separately from all other flowering plants.
Description
Amborella is a sprawling shrub or small tree up to 8 metres (26 feet) high. It bears alternate, simple evergreen leaves without stipules. The leaves are two-ranked, with distinctly serrated or rippled margins, and about 8 to 10 centimetres (3 to 4 inches) long. Amborella has xylem tissue that differs from that of most other flowering plants. The xylem of Amborella contains only tracheids; vessel elements are absent. Xylem of this form has long been regarded as a primitive feature of flowering plants.


