Which flowering plant is the closest living relative of all other flowering plants?

Amborella trichopoda is the closest living relative of all other flowering plants.

This small woody shrub is endemic to the island of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific. Genetic and anatomical evidence places Amborella as the sole surviving lineage that diverged earliest from the rest of the flowering-plant family tree.

Its position makes the species especially valuable for studying how flowers evolved. Amborella has separate male and female flowers on the same plant, and its flowers are relatively small compared with those of many familiar garden plants.

Being the earliest-diverging living flowering plant does not mean Amborella is the direct ancestor of every other flower. It is a surviving sister lineage, while the actual ancestor lived millions of years ago and is extinct. The plant is also the only species in its genus and family.