After the initial colonisation of the bare rock by mosses, liverworts and ferns, land plants started to diversify. New species of ferns started to evolve. These were seed ferns and primitive cycads.

Conifer trees appeared along with climbing plants and epiphytes. In some areas there were huge swamps full of giant lycopod clubmoss trees. In cool climates thick peat deposits were formed from the dead plant material. When they became fossilised they formed coal.

About 300 million years ago, the climate warmed up. Giant horse tales club mosses were not so abundant. Ferns, cycads and primitive conifers, all diversify into new plant species as they adapted to their environments. This was when reptiles evolved an early dinosaurs roamed the forests. There was now enough green plant food to satisfy the herbivores. This in turn enabled meat eaters to evolve.

In the Mesozoic era that started 245 million years ago. The climb it was warm without polar ice caps are relatively dry. Cycads and Conifer trees were the dominant plant groups. Primitive mammals were already present in the first birds appeared but dinosaurs were still the most important animals.

It is not certain who the closest relatives are to allowing plants. They reproduce by producing seeds just like conifers and cycads. It is believed an ancient water lily, was one of the first flowering plants, but also something like a magnolia was one of the first species to appear. The dinosaurs disappeared around about 65 million years ago. Mammals took over as the main land animal.

Many of them ate seeds and fruit produced by flowering plants. This helped spread different species of flowering plants across the globe. The wide range of flowers and fruits is down to the exploitation of animals by these plants as couriers pollen and seeds.

Travel books