Fagales
Encyclopedia
The Fagales are an order
of flowering plant
s, including some of the best known tree
s. The order name is derived from genus
Fagus
, Beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledon
s. The families and genera currently included are as follows:
The older Cronquist system
only included four families (Betulaceae, Corylaceae, Fagaceae, Ticodendraceae; Corylaceae now being included within Betulaceae); this arrangement is followed by, for example, the World checklist of selected plant families (see external link below). The other families were split into three different orders, placed among the Hamamelidae. The Casuarinales comprised the single family Casuarinaceae, the Juglandales comprised the Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae, and the Myricales comprised the remaining forms (plus Balanops
). The change is due to studies suggesting that the Myricales, so defined, are paraphyletic to the other two groups.
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s, including some of the best known tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s. The order name is derived from genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Fagus
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, Beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledon
Dicotyledon
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
s. The families and genera currently included are as follows:
- BetulaceaeBetulaceaeBetulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams, numbering about 130 species...
- Birch family (Betula, Alnus, Carpinus, Corylus, OstryaOstryaOstrya is a genus of eight to ten small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Its common name is Hophornbeam in American English and Hop-hornbeam in British English. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.The genus is native in southern...
, OstryopsisOstryopsisOstryopsis is a small genus of two species of deciduous shrubs belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. The species have no common English name, though Hazel-hornbeam has been suggested, reflecting their similarities to the closely related Hazels and Hop-hornbeams.The genus is native in western...
) - CasuarinaceaeCasuarinaceaeCasuarinaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of 3 or 4 genera and approximately 70 species of trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics , Australia, and the Pacific Islands...
- She-oak family (CasuarinaCasuarinaCasuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the sole genus in the family, but has been split into three genera .They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall...
, Gymnostoma, Ceuthostoma, AllocasuarinaAllocasuarinaAllocasuarina is a genus of trees in the flowering plant family Casuarinaceae. They are endemic to Australia, occurring primarily in the south. Like the closely related genus Casuarina, they are commonly called sheoaks or she-oaks, they are notable for their long, segmented branchlets that...
) - FagaceaeFagaceaeThe family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often...
- Beech family (FagusBeechBeech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, Quercus, CastaneaCastaneaCastanea can mean:* Castanea , a plant genus including the chestnuts and chinkapins* Castanea, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Castanea Township, Pennsylvania, which surrounds the CDP of the same name...
, CastanopsisCastanopsisCastanopsis is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 120 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. A total of 58 species are native to China, with 30 endemic; the other species occur further south, through...
, ChrysolepisChrysolepisChrysolepis is a small genus in the beech family Fagaceae, endemic to the western United States. Its two species have the common name chinquapin...
, Formanodendron, LithocarpusLithocarpusLithocarpus is a genus in the beech family Fagaceae, differing from Quercus in the erect male spikes. The World Checklist accepts 334 species, though some other texts suggest as few as 100 species. About 100 Asian species of the genus were formerly treated in the genus Pasania. All but one are...
, TrigonobalanusTrigonobalanusTrigonobalanus is a genus of three species of evergreen trees in the family Fagaceae, related to beeches and chestnuts. The species are widely scattered, with one in northern South America and two in southeast Asia; some botanists treat the three species in separate genera...
, Colombobalanus) - JuglandaceaeJuglandaceaeThe Juglandaceae, also known as the Walnut Family, is a family of trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Various members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia....
- Walnut family (Juglans, Pterocarya, Carya, CyclocaryaCyclocaryaCyclocarya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Juglandaceae, comprising a single species Cyclocarya paliurus , formerly treated in the genus Pterocarya as Pterocarya paliurus. It is native to eastern and central China.It is a deciduous tree growing to 30 m tall...
, AlfaroaAlfaroaAlfaroa is a genus of evergreen trees in the Juglandaceae family of the Fagales, growing in montaine and submontaine tropical rain forests in Central America. The wood is characterized by solid pith, pink heartwood, and vessels with scalariform perforations, as well as simple...
, EngelhardiaEngelhardiaEngelhardia is a genus of seven species of trees in the family Juglandaceae, native to southeast Asia from northern India east to Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines...
, OreomunneaOreomunneaOreomunnea is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Juglandaceae, native to southern Mexico and Central America, where they occur in montane rainforest....
, PlatycaryaPlatycaryaPlatycarya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Juglandaceae, usually treated as comprising a single species Platycarya strobilacea, though one to two additional species are accepted by some authors. It is native to eastern Asia in China, Korea, and Japan.It is a deciduous tree growing to...
, Rhoiptelea) - MyricaceaeMyricaceaeThe Myricaceae is a small family of dicotyledonous shrubs and small trees in the order Fagales. There are three genera in the family, although some botanists separate many species from Myrica into a fourth genus Morella...
- Bayberry family (MyricaMyricaMyrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australasia...
, CanacomyricaCanacomyricaCanacomyrica is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Myricaceae, native to New Caledonia. The sole species isCanacomyrica monticola, an endangered tree or small shrub, endemic to ultramafic serpentine soils.-References:...
, ComptoniaComptoniaComptonia is a monotypic genus in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Quebec south to the extreme north of Georgia, and west to Minnesota. The common name is Sweetfern or Sweet-fern, a confusing name as it is not a fern.It is a deciduous...
) - NothofagaceaeNothofagusNothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 35 species of trees and shrubs native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and Australasia...
- Southern beech family (NothofagusNothofagusNothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 35 species of trees and shrubs native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and Australasia...
- subgenera Fuscospora, Brassospora and Lophozonia) - TicodendraceaeTicodendronTicodendron incognitum is the only species of Ticodendron, and the only member of the family Ticodendraceae. It is most closely related to the family Betulaceae....
- Ticodendron family (TicodendronTicodendronTicodendron incognitum is the only species of Ticodendron, and the only member of the family Ticodendraceae. It is most closely related to the family Betulaceae....
)
The older Cronquist system
Cronquist system
The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's system places flowering plants into two...
only included four families (Betulaceae, Corylaceae, Fagaceae, Ticodendraceae; Corylaceae now being included within Betulaceae); this arrangement is followed by, for example, the World checklist of selected plant families (see external link below). The other families were split into three different orders, placed among the Hamamelidae. The Casuarinales comprised the single family Casuarinaceae, the Juglandales comprised the Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae, and the Myricales comprised the remaining forms (plus Balanops
Balanops
Balanops is a genus of flowering plants. The nine species are trees or shrubs, found in New Caledonia, Fiji and northern Queensland.The genus by itself constitutes the family Balanopaceae...
). The change is due to studies suggesting that the Myricales, so defined, are paraphyletic to the other two groups.