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How did molecular evidence change the classification of Magnoliales among flowering plants?

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Magnolia flower — Magnoliales Magnolia (*Magnolia fraseri*).

Historically, many botanists considered the Magnoliales order to be the most primitive group of extant angiosperms based on structural features such as spirally arranged floral parts and simple, leaflike carpels.1

Molecular evidence has since refined this understanding by placing other groups as more basal within the angiosperm evolutionary tree. Despite this shift, Magnoliales remains recognized as a basal lineage among flowering plants. Furthermore, modern phylogenetic analysis—specifically the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV (APG IV) system—has reclassified the order as a key component of the [magnoliid clade]. This clade represents a revision of the older Magnoliidae subclass, grouping Magnoliales with Laurales, Piperales, and Canellales as an early evolutionary branch of flowering plants.132