Primitive angiosperm families

In many families of angiosperms, phosphatidylglycerol (9) is the only major product of the prokaryotic pathway. Other chloroplast lipids in these plants are synthesized only by the eukaryotic pathway. In some primitive angiosperm families, both pathways contribute to the s)mthesis of mono-galactosyldiacylglycerol (10) and other lipids (Browse and Somerville, 1991). 

Blue flower colour, the preferred attractant of bee pollinators, was found to be restricted to the more highly evolved angiosperm plant families (GottUeb 1982). It is usually due to a delphinidin-based anthocyanin. More primitive families are characterized by cyanidin-based anthocyanins in the red to magenta range (Harbome and Williams 2000). 

Fig. 3.16. Representation of the angiospermous magnolialean block (sector on the left) and rosiflorean block (four sectors on the right) with their superorders (rays) and orders (dots), the latter placed on a 0- to 100-point scale according to the mean Sporne indices of their dicotyledonous families (76) and the artificially modified (34) mean Sporne indices of their monocotyledonous families (74). The dots connected by solid lines represent orders for which the existence of chemical relationships, mostly in form of chemical gradients (increasing oxidation levels and skeletal specializations of the contained micromolecules), were recognized. Connections by broken lines are more hypothetical and refer in most cases to the frequent prenylation of phenolics. The broken lines in the center indicate possible accesses to the most primitive orders...

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