A colonisation history for 411 extant genera and 477 lineages of the vascular flora of New Zealand was constructed using the plastid rbcL gene. Molecular clock crown ages suggest that the Eocene-Oligocene transition extinction at 33.9 Ma was critical to the development of the extant flora as few lineages, mostly ferns and conifers, predate this event. Based on crown dates, almost all extant angiosperm lineages have established after the Eocene-Oligocene transition extinction. The Oligocene marine transgression had little discernible impact on the formation of the extant flora, as at the culmination of the inundation (22.0–25.0 Ma) fifty extant lineages of vascular plant were present and another eight lineages originated during this time. The majority of extant species (89%) originated after the end of the Miocene Thermal Optimum at about 15.0 Ma. Nearly 50% of the extant species have evolved during mountain uplift and glaciation of the late Pliocene-Pleistocene (0–4.99 Ma). Therefore, despite a residual contribution from the Eocene, Oligocene and early to mid Miocene periods, the New Zealand vascular flora essentially originated in the late Miocene and after.

使用质体rbcL构建了新西兰411种现存属和477种脉管菌群的定殖历史基因。分子钟冠年龄表明，始发于33.9 Ma的始新世-渐新世的灭绝对现存菌群的发育至关重要，因为在此事件之前很少有谱系，主要是蕨类和针叶树。根据冠状日期，始新世-渐新世过渡绝灭后，几乎所有现存的被子植物谱系都建立了。渐新世的海侵对现存菌群的形成几乎没有明显的影响，因为在淹没结束（22.0-25.0 Ma）时，存在着五十种现存维管植物谱系，在此期间又产生了八种谱系。大多数中存在的物种（89％）起源于中新世最适热期结束后约15.0 Ma。近50％的现存物种是在上新世-更新世（0–4.99 Ma）晚期的山隆起和冰川化过程中演化的。