British scientist Chris Hill discovered the world's oldest flower recently in 130-million-year-old clay rocks in the south of England. Christened Bevhalstia pebja and belonging to the Cretaceous period, this plant fossil is a 25-cm high herb and has aquatic roots. It combines a primitive fern-like anatomy and leaves with more advanced branching and small reproductive structures (Science, Vo1271, No 5253).