sentences:  The flowering plants have long been assumed to have evolved from within the gymnosperms; according to the traditional morphological view, they are closely allied to the Gnetales.However, as noted above, recent molecular evidence is at odds with this hypothesis, and further suggests that Gnetales are more closely related to some gymnosperm groups than angiosperms, and that extant gymnosperms form a distinct clade to the angiosperms, the two clades diverging some .The relationship of stem groups to the angiosperms is important in determining the evolution of flowers.