First Flower
Original title: First Flower
Duration: 60’
Producer: Doug Hamilton / A NOVA Production by Hamilton Land & Cattle, Inc. for WGBH in
association with the Media Development Authority of Singapore, Bang Singapore
Pte. Ltd. and ARTE France
Director: Doug Hamilton
Participant: Ashley King
Company: WGBH / NOVA
Scientific field: History / Archaeology / Environment
Year: 2007
Country: USA
Flowers hold a special place in the plant world as well as the human heart. There are
somewhere between 220,000 to over 400,000 different flowering species on earth. They
dominate our gardens and landscapes, and provide many of our staple foods. Yet until
recently, almost nothing was known about their origins; Charles Darwin called it “an
abominable mystery”. In the search for answers, THE FIRST FLOWER takes NOVA viewers
on a spectacular journey of discovery to a remote mountain region of China, to explore our
fascination with flowers and the puzzle of how they began.
First Flower 
