Although flowers have long been at the center of human life, the question of how flowers evolved has long baffled scientists. But now a tantalizing fossil that bloomed during the reign of the dinosaurs has surfaced in China. In a story blooming with beauty and scientific mystery, this program explores the incredible truth that lays behind the ravishing flowers we so love to behold: that humans could not have existed or evolved without them.

"First Flower" probes the controversial discovery of Archaefructus, a Chinese fossil scientists believe is the earliest evidence of a flower yet found on Earth. Following the trail of clues to the fossil's origins, an intrepid group of botanists and paleo botanists reveal how that "abominable mystery" is starting to move towards a solution.

This vivid journey takes NOVA's cameras deep into the lush wilds of China’s stunning lost world of the remote Hengduan Mountains, giving audiences a view into a spectacular living safety deposit box, where some of the world's most beloved flowers originated.  Flowers have always ignited passion, and NOVA captures in glorious images how they are continuing to inspire new scientific discoveries today.