Rosales is an order of flowering plants. It is sister to a clade consisting of Fagales and Cucurbitales. It contains about 7,700 species, distributed into about 260 genera. Rosales comprise nine families, the type family being the rose family, Rosaceae. The largest of these families are Rosaceae (91/4828) and Urticaceae (53/2625). The order Rosales is divided into three clades that have never been assigned a taxonomic rank. The basal clade consists of the family Rosaceae; another clade consists of four families, including Rhamnaceae; and the third clade consists of the four urticalean families.
Saxifragales is an order of angiosperms, or flowering plants, containing 15 botanical families and around 100 genera, with nearly 2,500 species. Of the 15 families, many are small, with eight of them being monotypic. The largest family is the Crassulaceae (stonecrops), a diverse group of mostly succulent plants, with about 35 genera. Saxifragales are found worldwide, primarily in temperate to subtropical zones, rarely being encountered growing wild in the tropics; however, many species are now cultivated throughout the world as knowledge of plant husbandry has improved. They can be found in a wide variety of environments, from deserts to fully aquatic habitats, with species adapted to alpine, forested or fully-aquatic habitats. Many are epiphytic or lithophytic, growing on exposed cliff faces, on trees or on rocks, and not requiring a highly organic or nutrient-dense substrate to thrive.
The Santalales are an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions. It derives its name from its type genus Santalum (sandalwood). Mistletoe is the common name for a number of parasitic plants within the order.
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.
The Piperaceae, also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in five genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: Piper and Peperomia.
Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier system, the Cronquist system, recognized Hamamelidaceae in the Hamamelidales order.
Saxifragaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot order Saxifragales. The taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the scope much reduced in the era of molecular phylogenetic analysis. The family is divided into ten clades, with about 640 known species in about 35 accepted genera. About half of these consist of a single species, but about 400 of the species are in the type genus Saxifraga. The family is predominantly distributed in the northern hemisphere, but also in the Andes in South America.
The Potamogetonaceae, commonly referred to as the pondweed family, is an aquatic family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The roughly 110 known species are divided over six genera. The largest genus in the family by far is Potamogeton, which contains about 100 species.
Fungus Rock, sometimes known as Mushroom Rock, and among the Maltese as Il-Ġebla tal-Ġeneral, is a small islet in the form of a 60-metre-high (200 ft) massive lump of limestone at the entrance to an almost circular black lagoon in Dwejra, on the coast of Gozo, itself an island in the Maltese archipelago. It is located at 36°02′45″N14°11′27″E and falls within the jurisdiction of the town of San Lawrenz.
The rosids are members of a large clade of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms.
Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. Four genera comprise this family: Medusandra, Soyauxia, Peridiscus, and Whittonia., with a total of 12 known species. It has a disjunct distribution, with Peridiscus occurring in Venezuela and northern Brazil, Whittonia in Guyana, Medusandra in Cameroon, and Soyauxia in tropical West Africa. Whittonia is possibly extinct, being known from only one specimen collected below Kaieteur Falls in Guyana. In 2006, archeologists attempted to rediscover it, however, it proved unsuccessful.
Ruppia, also known as the widgeonweeds, ditch grasses or widgeon grass, is the only extant genus in the family Ruppiaceae, with eight known species. These are aquatic plants widespread over much of the world. The genus name honours Heinrich Bernhard Rupp, a German botanist (1688–1719). They are widespread outside of frigid zones and the tropics.
The Balanophoraceae are a subtropical to tropical family of obligate parasitic flowering plants, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscure affinities. In the broadest circumscription, the family consists of 16 genera. Alternatively, three genera may be split off into the segregate family Mystropetalaceae.
Vahlia is a genus of herbs and subshrubs that grow in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. There are at least five species.
Penthorum is a genus of plants in the order Saxifragales. They are erect herbaceous perennials about half a meter tall. The genus consists of two species, one from east Asia and one from eastern North America. It is variously classified in the family Saxifragaceae or its own family Penthoraceae. Its closest relatives may be in Haloragaceae.
Simethis is a genus of plants in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. It contains only one known species, Simethis mattiazzii, commonly called the Kerry lily.
When the APG II system of plant classification was published in April 2003, fifteen genera and three families were placed incertae sedis in the angiosperms, and were listed in a section of the appendix entitled "Taxa of uncertain position".
Tetracarpaea is the only genus in the flowering plant family Tetracarpaeaceae. Some taxonomists place it in the family Haloragaceae sensu lato, expanding that family from its traditional circumscription to include Penthorum and Tetracarpaea, and sometimes Aphanopetalum as well.
Halocnemum is a genus of halophytic shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are fleshy and apparently articulated with characteristic globular or short-cylindrical lateral branches, and reduced leaves and flowers. There are three or two species, occurring from Southern Europe and North Africa to Asia.
