> The most ancient plant with nectaries still living today is in Pteridophyta. Pteridium aquilinum, a quasi-cosmopolitan fern in which nectaries provide rewards for ants that defend the plants from predators. Nectaries are more common in angiosperms, dating back to the Late Cretaceous, when they were both floral and extrafloral (Friis and Endress 1990). The former are involved in pollination and the latter in rewards for animals, mainly ants, that keep predators away, but in some cases they are also involved in pollination. There are families of angiosperms in which all species have nectaries, whereas nectaries are absent in Orchidaceae wherever pollination occurs by deception (Neiland and Wilcock 1998). These authors noticed that in this families reproductive success was statistically greater when nectaries were present.

Pacini, E., Nepi, M., & Vesprini, J. L. (2003). Nectar biodiversity: a short review. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 238(1-4), 7-21.

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