Commelinales is an order of flowering plants. It comprises five families: Commelinaceae, Haemodoraceae, Hanguanaceae, Philydraceae, and Pontederiaceae. All the families combined contain over 885 species in about 70 genera; the majority of species are in the Commelinaceae. Plants in the order share a number of synapomorphies that tie them together, such as a lack of mycorrhizal associations and tapetal raphides. Estimates differ as to when the Commelinales evolved, but most suggest an origin and diversification sometime during the mid- to late Cretaceous. Depending on the methods used, studies suggest a range of origin between 123 and 73 million years, with diversification occurring within the group 110 to 66 million years ago. The order's closest relatives are in the Zingiberales, which includes ginger, bananas, cardamom, and others.
The Magnoliales are an order of flowering plants.
The Nymphaeales are an order of flowering plants, consisting of three families of aquatic plants, the Hydatellaceae, the Cabombaceae, and the Nymphaeaceae. It is one of the three orders of basal angiosperms, an early-diverging grade of flowering plants. At least 10 morphological characters unite the Nymphaeales. Molecular synapomorphies are also known.
Ceratophyllaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants including one living genus commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only extant family in the order Ceratophyllales. Species are commonly called coontails or hornworts, although hornwort is also used for unrelated plants of the division Anthocerotophyta.
The Aquifoliales are an order of flowering plants, including the Aquifoliaceae (holly) family, and also the Helwingiaceae and the Phyllonomaceae. In 2001, the families Stemonuraceae and Cardiopteridaceae were added to this order. This circumscription of Aquifoliales was recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group when they published the APG II system in 2003. In the Cronquist system, there is no Aquifoliales order: the Aquifoliaceae are placed within the order Celastrales and the others are in other families.
The Zygophyllales are an order of dicotyledonous plants, comprising the following two families:
The Penaeaceae are a family of evergreen, leathery-leaved shrubs and small trees, native to South Africa. The family has 29 species in 9 genera. The family Penaeaceae was expanded under the APG III system of classification with the inclusion of the genera Olinia and the single species from the genus Rhynchocalyx.
Asphodelaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, but the circumscription has varied widely. In its current circumscription in the APG IV system, it includes about 40 genera and 900 known species. The type genus is Asphodelus.
Balanops is a group of flowering plants described as a genus in 1871. The nine species are trees or shrubs, found in New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, and northern Queensland. They are dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
Picrodendraceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of 80 species in 24 genera. These are subtropical to tropical and found in New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Madagascar, continental Africa, and tropical America. Its closest relatives are Phyllanthaceae.
The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009 by a further revision, the APG III system.
Dasypogonaceae is a family of flowering plants, one that has not been commonly recognized by taxonomists; the plants it contains were usually included in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae. If valid, Dasypogonaceae includes four genera with 16 species.
Staphyleaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Crossosomatales, native to Europe, temperate and tropical Asia and the Americas. The largest genus Staphylea, which gives the family its name, contains the "bladdernut" trees. The family includes three genera with more than 40 known species.
Boryaceae is a family of highly drought-tolerant flowering plants native to Australia, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family includes two genera, with twelve species in total in Australia.
Tecophilaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. It consists of nine genera with a total of 27 species.
Sphenostemon is the genus of small evergreen trees or shrubs native to New Guinea, Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia. They have opposite or spiral leaves, and at most small stipules. The small flowers, borne in terminal inflorescences, have free sepals and petals. The anthers have thick filaments. The fruit, a berry, is fleshy and contains two seeds. The genus is described as "particularly poorly known".
The Myodocarpaceae are a family of plants including two genera, Delarbrea, Myodocarpus. The family is accepted under the APG II system and APG III systems. In earlier systems the two genera were included among the Araliaceae. Its center of diversity is New Caledonia.
Cytinaceae is a family of parasitic flowering plants. It comprises two genera, Cytinus and Bdallophytum, totalling ten species.
Bruniaceae is a family of shrubs native to the cape region of South Africa. They are mostly restricted to the Cape Province, but a small number of species occur in KwaZulu-Natal.
Huaceae is a family of plant in the rosids group, which has been classed in the orders Malpighiales, Malvales, and Violales or in its own order Huales. The APG II system placed it in the clade eurosids I, whereas the APG III system of 2009 and APG IV (2016) place it within the Oxalidales. The family is endemic to central Africa. It contains four species in the following two genera:
