Sunlight help to provide energy to the plant to complete the process. Basically, the plant harvest the solar energy.
I think the answer is "the older it is"
Reason: I might be wrong but is something (like a shell) gets buried in something (like sand), overtime many things (like dirt, soil, sand, etc.) will be on top of the original. This will make layers. So, the older rock is on the bottom since it has been there for the longest and it gets covered by other stuff (causing the layers).
Hope this helps! :) (If I'm wrong, sorry :( )
It can be concluded that both parents are also homozygous recessive for the gene