Fig. 46. Endosperm development coded as three character states, ab initio cellular (cellular), free nuclear, and helobial, mapped onto two published cladograms. Shaded rectangles indicate basal eudicot taxa. The most parsimonious explanation is that free nuclear endosperm development (gray) evolved independently four times in the eudicot clade from the plesiomorphic cellular state: once in a clade including Ranunculaceae, Menispermaceae, and others; once in the clade including the Fumariaceae (closely related to Papaveraceae); once in a clade including Platanaceae, Nelumbonaceae, and Proteaceae; and once in the ancestor of all remaining eudicot lineages. Implied is the independent origin of free nuclear endosperm in the monocots (represented by Acorus on Tree A). Tree A based on Fig. 4B of Chase et al. (1993). Tree B based on the consensus tree of 15 shortest trees from the analysis of Hoot, Magallón, and Crane (1999)