Genetic Architecture of Novel Floral Organs

Flowering plants exhibit a remarkable array of morphologies due in no small part to the evolution of novelty. While flowers themselves are often considered evolutionary novelties, suites of novel traits have further evolved within flowers to produce the breadth of morphological diversity across angiosperms, including traits as dramatic as novel floral organ identities. Here, we describe and synthesize what we currently do and do not know about the evolution and genetics underlying the development of floral organs historically referred to as novel and consider how these findings impact the way we define novel organs.