Phylogenetic Tree and Evolution
The five species that I choose were lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), confederate violet (Viola sororia priceana), burdocks (Genus arctium), greater burdocks (Arctium lappa), and buttercups (Genus ranunculus). For the phylogenetic tree of these species, burdocks and great burdocks would share a most recent common ancestor, X, because these species do not have pedals but spikes. Then confederate violets and buttercups would have a most recent common ancestor, Y, because they both have large pedals. Then the most recent common ancestor Y would have a more recent common ancestor, Z, with the smaller pedaled lesser celandine since both would have pedals. Common ancestor Z and X would have a common ancestor because they evolved separately as one has spikes and the other has pedals.
The evolutionary advantage of having spikes instead of pedals is that it would protect the seeds of the plant from getting eaten by predators. However, having pedals allows plants to attract pollinators that help the plants with their reproductive cycle by carrying the pollen from one plant to the female organ of another plant. A small pedal would only be big enough for small pollinators, but not big pollinators as it is too small for them to land and extract nectar from the flower. A larger pedal however would attract both big and small pollinators as it would be able to support both as they extract the nectar from the plant.
