The proposed anthophyte clade includes the glossopterids, pentoxylales, bennettitaleans, gnetophytes, caytoniales, and angiosperms (Doyle & Donoghue, 1987)
This is a debated clade, and molecular studies tend not to support the anthophyte clade hypothesis
Many research articles have rejected the inclusion of gnetophytes in this clade (Goremykin et al., 1996; Chaw et al., 1997; Hansen et al., 1999; Qiu et al., 1999; Samigullin et al., 1999; Chaw et al., 2000; Sanderson et al., 2000; Magallon & Sanderson, 2002; Hajibabaei et al., 2006)
Although some research that includes fossil taxa possibly supports the Gnetales in the Anthophyte clade (Rothwell et al., 2009)
Synapomorphies for the anthophyte clade include:
Scalariform pitting in secondary xylem
Once-pinnate microsporophylls
Single ovule per cupule
Derived non-saccate pollen with granular exine structure
Guard cell mother cell gives rise to a pair of guard cells
One or more pairs of subsidiary cells
Aggregate reproductive structures into flower-like structures
Commonly bisexual
└Anthophytes
Middle Triassic - present
Above: Anthophyte clade, with representatives: cross-section of a stem of the Pentoxylon (left), Nilssonia, a Bennettitalean leaf (middle), and the flower of an angiosperm, Akebia (right)