Currently plant systematists accept "Amborella trichopoda" as the most basal lineage in the clade of angiosperms. In systematics the term "basal" describes a lineage that diverges near the base of a phylogeny, and thus earlier than other lineages. Since "Amborella" is apparently basal among the flowering plants, the features of early flowering plants can be inferred by comparing derived traits shared by the main angiosperm lineage but not present in "Amborella". These traits are presumed to have evolved after the divergence of the "Amborella" lineage.