The Brassicales (or Cruciales) are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the

eurosids II The rosids are members of a large clade ( monophyletic group) of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms. The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classific ...

group of

dicotyledon The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

s under the

APG II The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 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 Gr ...

system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of

glucosinolate Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungent plants such as mustard, cabbage, and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut, or otherwise damaged. T ...

(mustard oil) compounds. Most systems of classification have included this order, although sometimes under the name Capparales (the name chosen depending on which is thought to have priority). The order typically contains the following families: *

Akaniaceae The Akaniaceae or turnipwood family are a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales. It comprises two genera of trees, '' Akania'' and ''Bretschneidera'', each with a single species. These plants are native to China, Vietnam, Taiwan, an ...

– two species of turnipwood trees, native to Asia and eastern Australia *

Bataceae ''Batis'' (turtleweed, saltwort, beachwort, or pickleweed) is a genus of two species of flowering plants, the only genus in the family Bataceae. They are halophytic (salt tolerant) plants, native to the coastal salt marshes of warm temperate and ...

– salt-tolerant shrubs from America and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...

–

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

and

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...

family; may include the

Cleomaceae The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera, or about 150 species in 17 genera.Cleomaceae, Zhang Mingli (张明理)1; Gordon C. Tucker2, Harvard.edu/ref> These genera ...

Capparaceae The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the caper family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 33 genera and about 700 species. The largest genera are '' Capparis'' (about ...

–

caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...

family, sometimes included in

Caricaceae The Caricaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, found primarily in tropical regions of Central and South America and Africa. They are usually short-lived evergreen pachycaul shrubs or small to medium-sized trees growi ...

–

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

family *

Gyrostemonaceae Gyrostemonaceae is a family of plants in the order Brassicales The Brassicales (or Cruciales) are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the eurosids II group of dicotyledons under the APG II system. One character common to many members ...

– several genera of small shrubs and trees endemic to temperate parts of Australia *

Koeberliniaceae ''Koeberlinia'' is a genus of flowering plant. It is the sole genus in the family ''Koeberliniaceae''. Alternately it is treated as a member of the Capparaceae. Species ''Koeberlinia'' includes two species: *''Koeberlinia holacantha'' W.C. Hol ...

– one species of thorn bush native to Mexico and the US Southwest *

Limnanthaceae The Limnanthaceae are a small family of annual herbs occurring throughout temperate North America. There are eight species and nineteen taxa currently recognized. Members of this family are prominent in vernal pool communities of California. Some ...

–

meadowfoam ''Limnanthes'', the type genus of the family Limnanthaceae, consists of annual herbaceous plants commonly known as the meadowfoams. The seven species are all native to coastal and adjoining regions (inland valleys, foothills and mountains) of we ...

family *

Moringaceae ''Moringa'' is the sole genus in the plant family Moringaceae. It contains 13 species from tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia that range in size from tiny herbs to massive trees. ''Moringa'' species grow quickly in many types of ...

– thirteen species of trees from Africa and India *

Pentadiplandraceae ''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' is an evergreen shrub or liana that is the only species assigned to the genus ''Pentadiplandra'', and has been placed in a family of its own called Pentadiplandraceae. It produces large red berries, sometimes mottled ...

– African species whose berries have two highly sweet tasting proteins *

Resedaceae Resedaceae is a family of mostly herbaceous dicotyledonous plants comprising 107 known species in 8 to 12 genera: *'' Borthwickia'' - 1 species, sometimes placed in its own family Borthwickiaceae *'' Caylusea'' - 3 species *''Forchhammeria'' - 1 ...

– mignonette family *

Salvadoraceae Salvadoraceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales,, p. 10 consisting of three genera with a total of 11 known species. They occur in Africa (including Madagascar), Southeast Asia, and on Java, suggesting they are probably found in much of ...

– three genera found from Africa to Java *

Setchellanthaceae ''Setchellanthus caeruleus'' is a species of pungent shrub with large blue flowers. It is placed alone in the genus ''Setchellanthus'', which is in turn, is placed alone in the family Setchellanthaceae. It is endemic to Mexico. The genus and the ...

Tiganophytaceae Tiganophytaceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales, consisting of the sole monotypic genus, ''Tiganophyton'', represented by ''T. karasense''. The family is endemic to Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a ...

Tovariaceae ''Tovaria'' is a genus of herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring an ...

Tropaeolaceae ''Tropaeolum'' , commonly known as nasturtium (; literally "nose-twister" or "nose-tweaker"), is a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in his book ''Species Plantarum'' ...

– nasturtium family

Classification

The following diagram shows the phylogeny of the Brassicales families along with their estimated ages, based on a 2018 study of

plastid The plastid (Greek: πλαστός; plastós: formed, molded – plural plastids) is a membrane-bound organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. They are considered to be intracellular endosy ...

DNA: On 20 April 2020, a newly described monotypic species from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, namely, ''Tiganophyton karasense'' is placed under this order as a monotypic member of new family

, which is closely related to

and

Historic classifications

Under the

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) a ...

, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the "

Dilleniidae Dillenidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. Circumscription of the subclass will vary with the taxonomic system being used; the only requirement being that it includes the family Dilleniaceae. A well-known system that uses this name i ...

". The only families included were the

and

(treated as separate families), the

, and

. Other taxa now included here were placed in various other orders. Cleome (Spider Flower) in Gavi

The families Capparaceae and Brassicaceae are closely related. One group, consisting of ''

Cleome ''Cleome'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae, commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee plants. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae ge ...

'' and related genera, was traditionally included in the Capparaceae but doing so results in a

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Capparaceae. Therefore, this group is generally now either included in the Brassicaceae or as its own family,

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q21904 Angiosperm orders