To look at these baby green apricots on our farm you'd be forgiven for not realising that they are the reason this tree is called an angiosperm -- a flowering plant which has the seed contained within a fruit. For the non-botanists of you out there, things like apples, tomatoes, cherries, aubergines and so on are all angiosperms.
Angiosperms are the most common type of plant on the planet as they make up over 80% of all plant species. This makes angiosperms the most diverse group of land plants today, although this was not always so. Flowering plants became the dominant plants about 90 million years ago, when the dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. However, the exact time when these plants originated remains hotly debated.
Angiosperms occupy every habitat on Earth except extreme environments such as the highest mountaintops, the regions immediately surrounding the poles, and the deepest oceans. Furthermore, angiosperms are crucial for human existence; the vast majority of the world's crops (rice, wheat, corn etc.) are angiosperms, as are most natural clothing fibers. Angiosperms are also sources for other important resources such as medicine and timber.
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