Evolution Garden

The garden demonstrates how different plants are related to each other and how plants are related to animals and fungi.  The layout of the garden takes you on a journey through time along a series of paths.  Each division of the path relates to a major development in the plant kingdom.

Land Plants – Around 475 million years ago, plants such as green algae, which had evolved in the sea, began to produce different structures which enabled development suited to different environments.  This change allowed plants to colonise the land. These first land plants are represented by the bryophytes such as mosses.

Vascular Plants – The next major change occurred around 410 million years ago and involved the development of structures that could transfer the water and nutrients around.  The vascular plants, including club mosses and ferns, have a big advantage over non-vascular plants – the ability to grow tall.

Seeds – Around 375 million years ago, some plants began to develop seeds,  Here you will find conifers, cycads and a ginkgo.

Flowers – Around 130-140 million years ago, the first angiosperms developed structures for the female parts of the ‘flower’.  Magnolias, water-lilies and some other early flowering plants, are described as primitive angiosperms.

Monocots and Eudicots – It is thought that the monocotyledons (e.g. orchids, palms, lilies and grasses) and the true dicotyledons (eudicots) e.g. (buttercups, fuchsias, roses and daisies) diverged around 110 million years ago.