Early-diverging angiosperms are important for studies of the origin and early evolution of the flower. Vialette-Guiraud et al. discuss the potential of the water lily Cabomba (Nymphaeales) as a model basal angiosperm, as it combines simplicity of floral structure, numerous pleisiomorphic angiosperm characters, and practical features that make it amenable to study using a broad range of molecular biological techniques. They also provide protocols for the growth and molecular analysis of Cabomba, a Cabomba flower EST database, and a genome size measurement of C. caroliniana.
