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.
Canellales is the botanical name for an order of flowering plants, one of the four orders of the magnoliids. It is recognized by the most recent classification of flowering plants, the APG IV system. It is defined to contain two families: Canellaceae and Winteraceae, which comprise 136 species of fragrant trees and shrubs. The Canellaceae are found in tropical America and Africa, and the Winteraceae are part of the Antarctic flora. Although the order was defined based on phylogenetic studies, a number of possible synapomorphies have been suggested, relating to the pollen tube, the seeds, the thickness of the integument, and other aspects of the morphology.
Piperales is an order of flowering plants. It necessarily includes the family Piperaceae but other taxa have been included or disincluded variously over time. Well-known plants which may be included in this order include black pepper, kava, the many Peperomias, pepper elder, lizard's tail, birthwort, and wild ginger.
The Francoaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Geraniales, including the genera Francoa, commonly known as bridal wreaths, and Tetilla. The Francoaceae are recognized as a family under various classification schemes but under the APG III system the Francoaceae are included within the Melianthaceae. In the APG IV system the Francoaceae are again recognized as a family, with Melianthaceae included in the circumscription of Francoaceae.
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.
Nyssaceae is a family of flowering trees sometimes included in the dogwood family (Cornaceae). Nyssaceae is composed of 37 known species in the following five genera:
Petrosaviaceae is a family of flowering plants belonging to a monotypic order, Petrosaviales. Petrosaviales are monocots, and are grouped within the lilioid monocots. Petrosaviales is a very small order composed of one family, two genera and four species accepted in 2016. Some species are photosynthetic (Japonolirion) and others are rare, leafless, chlorophyllous, mycoheterotrophic plants (Petrosavia). The family is found in low-light montane rainforests in Japan, China, Southeast Asia and Borneo. They are characterised by having bracteate racemes, pedicellate flowers, six persistent tepals, septal nectaries, three almost-distinct carpels, simultaneous microsporogenesis, monosulcate pollen, and follicular fruit.
Pontederiaceae is a family of flowering plants.
Gelsemiaceae is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the order Gentianales. The family contains only three genera: Gelsemium, Mostuea and Pteleocarpa. Gelsemium has three species, one native to Southeast Asia and southern China and two native to Central America, Mexico, and the southeastern United States. The eight species of Mostuea are native to tropical areas of South America, Africa, and Madagascar. The two genera were formerly classified in the family Loganiaceae. Pteleocarpa was originally placed in Boraginaceae or in its own family Pteleocarpaceae, but it is most closely related to Gelsemiaceae with which it shares significant characters.
Nelumbonaceae is a family of aquatic flowering plants. Nelumbo is the sole extant genus, containing Nelumbo lutea, native to North America, and Nelumbo nucifera, widespread in Asia. At least five other genera, Nelumbites, Exnelumbites, Paleonelumbo, Nelumbago, and Notocyamus are known from fossils.
The Calycanthaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species, restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions:
Schisandraceae is a family of flowering plants with 3 known genera and a total of 92 known species. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. Before that, the plants concerned were assigned to family Magnoliaceae and Illiciaceae.
Hypoxidaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.
The Cabombaceae are a family of aquatic, herbaceous flowering plants. A common name for its species is water shield. The family is recognised as distinct in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV system (2016). The family consists of two genera of aquatic plants, Brasenia and Cabomba, totalling six species.
Trimeniaceae is a family of flowering plants recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. It is a small family of one genus, Trimenia, with eight known species of woody plants, bearing essential oils. The family is subtropical to tropical and found in Southeast Asia, eastern Australia and on several Pacific Islands.
Euptelea is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the monogeneric family Eupteleaceae. The genus is found from Assam east through China to Japan, and consists of shrubs or small trees:
Myrothamnus is a genus of flowering plants, consisting of two species of small xerophytic shrubs, in the southern parts of tropical Africa and in Madagascar. Myrothamnus is recognized as the only genus in the family Myrothamnaceae.
Lanaria is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing a single species, Lanaria lanata, endemic to the southern coast of South Africa where it is associated with the fynbos belt. Lanaria lanata is commonly known as Cape edelweiss or lambtails. The genus is placed in the monotypic family Lanariaceae, a family only recently recognized by taxonomists. The APG IV system of 2016 does recognize this family.
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:
