This enigmatic plant is considered by some to by allied with cycads, whereas others have allied this with pteridosperms. Marcouia is an Late Triassic pinnate leaf that is palmately compound with four-five basally united pinnae. Secondary veins that dichotomize and anastomose originate from a well-defined midrib. This genus is known from limited material and probably does not have any relation to angiosperms. Furcula is an Late Triassic genus that combines angiosperm-leaf characteristics and other groups.
Stomates are syndetocheilic, also an angiosperm character.
There is little doubt that angiosperms display the most advanced seed plant state, and that the features that characterize them originated from a gymnosperm ancestor. The Gnetales , a small relict group of gymnosperms, may hold the key to angiospermy. There is growing agreement that these plants may be the closest living relative to flowering plants. Recent discoveries of a herbaceous angiosperm fossil record in the Early Cretaceous has led to two competing hypotheses - that early angiosperms were paleoherbs , rather than trees or shrubs. The Paleoherb Hypothesis has been promoted by results of cladistic analyses conducted by Taylor and Hickey in which the basal angiosperms are a group of tropical flowering plants with uncomplicated flowers and a mix of monocot and dicot features.