Some members of the subclass are among the earliest angiosperms and share anatomical similarities with gymnosperms like stamens that resemble the male cone scales of conifers and carpels found on the long flowering axis.[4] According to molecular clock calculations, the lineage that led to magnoliids split from other plants about 135 million years ago[5] or 160-165 million years ago.[6]
^Botany Illustrated: Introduction to Plants Major Groups Flowering Plant Families. Thomson Science. 1984. p. 26.
^Magallon, S; Gomez-Acevedo, S; Sanchez-Reyes, LL; Tania Hernandez-Hernandez, T (2015). "A metacalibrated time-tree documents the early rise of flowering plant phylogenetic diversity". New Phytologist. 207: 437–453. doi:10.1111/nph.13264.