  The study of young stars no longer surrounded by disks can greatly add to our
understanding of how protoplanetary disks evolve and planets form. We have used
VLT/FLAMES optical spectroscopy to confirm the youth and membership of 19 new
young diskless stars in the Serpens Molecular Cloud, identified at X-ray
wavelengths. Spectral types, effective temperatures and stellar luminosities
were determined using the optical spectra and optical/near-IR photometry.
Stellar masses and ages were derived based on PMS evolutionary tracks. The
results yield remarkable similarities for age and mass distribution between the
diskless and disk-bearing stellar populations in Serpens. We discuss the
important impli- cations these similarities may have on the standard picture of
disk evolution.
