The origin of angiosperms has been a long-standing botanical debate. The great diversity of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous makes the Jurassic a promising period in which to anticipate the origins of the angiosperms. Here, based on observations of 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 slabs in various states and orientations, from the South Xiangshan Formation (Early Jurassic) of China, we describe a fossil flower, Nanjinganthus dendrostyla gen. et sp. nov.. The large number of specimens and various preservations allow for an evidence-based reconstruction of the flower. From the evidence of the combination of an invaginated receptacle and ovarian roof, we infer that the seeds of Nanjinganthus were completely enclosed. Evidence of an actinomorphic flower with a dendroid style, cup-form receptacle, and angiospermy, is consistent with Nanjinganthus being a bona fide angiosperm from the Jurassic, an inference that we hope will re-invigorate research into angiosperm origins.

The spike mosses (Selaginella P.Beauv.; c. 750 species) are not only the most speciose extant genus of lycophytes, but also one of the largest land plant genera (Jermy, 1990). In addition to the exceptionally high number of living species it comprises, Selaginella is an ancient lineage believed to date back to the Carboniferous or even Devonian based on fossil evidence (Kenrick & Crane, 1997; Thomas, 1997; Korall et al., 1999; Taylor et al., 2009) and DNA‐based divergence time estimates (Klaus et al. 2017; Morris et al. 2018).

Flower, enclosed ovule and tetrasporangiate anther are three major characters distinguishing angiosperms from other seed plants. Morphologically, typical flowers are characterised by an organisation with gynoecium and androecium surrounded by corolla and calyx. Theoretically, flowers are derived from their counterparts in ancient ancestral gymnosperms. However, as for when, how and from which groups, there is no consensus among botanists yet. Although angiosperm-like pollen and angiosperms have been claimed in the Triassic and Jurassic, typical flowers with the aforesaid three key characters are still missing in the pre-Cretaceous age, making many interpretations of flower evolution tentative. Thus searching for flower in the pre-Cretaceous has been a tantalising task for palaeobotanists for a long time. Here, we report a typical flower, Euanthus paniigen. et sp. nov., from the Middle–Late Jurassic of Liaoning, China. Euanthus has sepals, petals, androecium with tetrasporangiate dithecate anthers and gynoecium with enclosed ovules, organised just like in perfect flowers of extant angiosperms. The discovery of Euanthus implies that typical angiosperm flowers have already been in place in the Jurassic, and provides a new insight unavailable otherwise for the evolution of flowers.

In contrast to woody habit with secondary growth, truthful herbaceous habit lacking secondary growth is restricted to angiosperms among seed plants. Although angiosperms might have occurred as early as in the Triassic and herbaceous habit theoretically may have been well adopted by pioneer angiosperms, pre‐Cretaceous herbs are missing hitherto, leaving the origin of herbs and evolution of herbaceous angiosperms mysterious. Here we report Juraherba bodae gen. et sp. nov, a whole plant herbaceous angiosperm, from the Middle Jurassic (>164 Ma) at Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China, a fossil Lagerstätten that is worldwide famous for various fossil finds. The angiospermous affinity of Juraherba is ensured by its enclosed ovules/seeds. The plant is small but complete, with physically connected hairy root, stem, leaves, and fructifications. The Middle Jurassic age recommends Juraherba as the earliest record of herbaceous seed plants, demanding a refresh look at the evolutionary history of angiosperms.

Despite increasing claims of pre-Cretaceous angiosperms, whether there really are angiosperms in the Jurassic is apparently still an open question for many people before further evidence is available. This question can only be answered by studying more Jurassic plant fossils. Here we report a fossil angiosperm, Yuhania daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov, from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The plant includes connected stem, leaves, flowers, aggregate fruits, fruitlets, and seeds within fruitlets. The leaves are helically arranged along the curving stem, linear in shape, with 5–6 parallel veins. The aggregate fruit is pedicellate, composed of over 20 carpels/fruitlets helically arranged. Each fruitlet encloses a seed. The reproductive organs in various stages are found in the same plant, allowing us to understand the development of Yuhania. The occurrence of Yuhania in the Middle Jurassic re-confirms the Jurassic history for angiosperms that has been suggested by other independent research and adds to the on-going study on the early evolution of angiosperms.

Angiosperms distinguish themselves from gymnosperms by their ovules that are enclosed before pollination. However, how the ovules get enclosed in angiosperms remains a mystery, especially for Magnoliaceae. The only key to this mystery is finding a series of carpels transitional from fully closed with enclosed ovules to open with naked ovules. We use routine paraffin section technology, LM, SEM to document the morphology and anatomy of carpel variation in Michelia figo (Magnoliaceae). A series of carpel variations within a single flower of Michelia figo (Magnoliaceae) are documented, in which the ovules are exposed in atypical carpels. These atypical and typical carpels for the first time demonstrate clearly how the naked ovule get enclosed. Each atypical carpel, with naked ovules, clearly comprises two parts, namely, subtending foliar part and branches bearing ovules, suggesting that a typical carpel is actually an end-product of the fusion between the ovuliferous branches and subtending foliar parts. The only difference among these carpels is the extent of fusion between these two parts. This generalization is in full agreement with the molecular genetic studies on angiosperm flowers.