Perianth symmetry changed at least 199 times in angiosperm evolution

Elisabeth Reyes' comprehensive review of floral symmetry evolution in angiosperms was published this month in Taxon. In this paper, we reconstructed no less than 130 origins and 69 reversals of perianth zygomorphy (bilateral symmetry) in flowering plants, highlighting zygomorphy as even more labile than was previously thought! Although similar genes have been shown to be involved in floral symmetry at the genetic level, zygomorphy can take many different forms at the morphological level, as pictured above.

Reyes E, Sauquet H, Nadot S. 2016. Perianth symmetry changed at least 199 times in angiosperm evolution. Taxon: In press. link