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The Fabales are an
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s included in the
rosid
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 the
eudicots
The eudicots, Eudicotidae, or eudicotyledons are a clade of flowering plants mainly characterized by having two seed leaves upon germination. The term derives from Dicotyledons.
Traditionally they were called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dico ...
in the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 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 ...
classification system. In the APG II circumscription, this order includes the families
or legumes (including the subfamilies
Caesalpinioideae
Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...
,
Mimosoideae
The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals ...
, and
Faboideae
The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family.
This subfamily is wide ...
),
Quillajaceae
Quillajaceae is a family of flowering plants. It contains only two extant species, '' Quillaja brasiliensis'' and ''Quillaja saponaria
''Quillaja saponaria'', the soap bark tree or soapbark, is an evergreen tree in the family Quillajaceae, ...
,
Polygalaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one ...
or milkworts (including the families
Diclidantheraceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family (biology), family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a cosmopolitan range, near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees ...
,
Moutabeaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one ...
, and
Xanthophyllaceae
''Xanthophyllum'' is a genus of about 109 species of trees and shrubs, of the plant family Polygalaceae; (under the Cronquist system it was previously placed in the monotypic family Xanthophyllaceae). The generic name is from the Greek meaning ...
), and
Surianaceae
The Surianaceae are a family of plants in the order Fabales with five genera and eight known species. It has an unusual distribution: the genus ''Recchia'' is native to Mexico, and the sole member of ''Suriana'', ''Suriana maritima, S. mari ...
. 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 ...
and some other plant classification systems, the order Fabales contains only the family Fabaceae. In the classification system of
Dahlgren the Fabales were in the
superorder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
Fabiflorae (also called Fabanae) with three families corresponding to the subfamilies of Fabaceae in APG II. The other families treated in the Fabales by the APG II classification were placed in separate orders by Cronquist, the Polygalaceae within its own order, the
Polygalales
The Fabales are an order of flowering plants included in the rosid group of the eudicots in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II classification system. In the APG II circumscription, this order includes the families Fabaceae or legumes (including ...
, and the Quillajaceae and Surianaceae within the
Rosales
Rosales () is an order of flowering plants. Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Rosales". At: Trees At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below) It is sister to a clade consisting of Faga ...
.
The Fabaceae, as the third-largest plant family in the world, contain most of the diversity of the Fabales, the other families making up a comparatively small portion of the order's diversity. Research in the order is largely focused on the Fabaceae, due in part to its great biological diversity, and to its importance as food plants. The Polygalaceae are fairly well researched among plant families, in part due to the large diversity of the genus ''
Polygala
''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world[Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...]
(
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
and
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
) species. While taxonomists using
molecular phylogenetic techniques find strong support for the order, questions remain about the morphological relationships of the Quillajaceae and Surianaceae to the rest of the order, due in part to limited research on these families.
Distribution
The Fabales are a
cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
order of plants, except only the subfamily
Papilionoideae
The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family.
This subfamily is widely ...
(Faboideae) of the Fabaceae are well dispersed throughout the northern part of the
North Temperate Zone
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
.
Phylogeny
The
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
of the Fabales is shown below.
Gallery
Image:Lathyrus tuberosa (Guixa).jpg, Tuberous pea (''Lathyrus tuberosus
''Lathyrus tuberosus'' (also known as the tuberous pea, tuberous vetchling, earthnut pea, aardaker, or tine-tare) is a small, climbing perennial plant, native in moist temperate parts of Europe and Western Asia. The plant is a trailer or weak cl ...
'') of the
Image:Quillaja saponaria.jpg, Soap bark tree (''Quillaja saponaria
''Quillaja saponaria'', the soap bark tree or soapbark, is an evergreen tree in the family Quillajaceae, native to warm temperate central Chile. In Chile it occurs from 32 to 40° South Latitude approximately and at up to 2000 m (6500&nb ...
'') of the Quillaja
''Quillaja'' is a genus of flowering plants, the only extant genus in the family Quillajaceae with two or three known species. It was once thought to be in the rose family, Rosaceae, but recent research shows it belongs in its own family. The i ...
ceae
Image:Polygala myrtifolia0.jpg, Milkwort
''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world[Polygalaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one ...]
File:Polygala elongata in Talakona, AP I IMG 8388.jpg, Milkwort
''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world[Polygalaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one ...]
Image:Suriana maritima flowers.JPG, Bay cedar (''Suriana maritima
''Suriana'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing only ''Suriana maritima'', which is commonly known as bay cedar. Distribution
It has a pantropical distribution and can be found on coasts in the New and Old World tropics.
Descri ...
'' of the Surianaceae
The Surianaceae are a family of plants in the order Fabales with five genera and eight known species. It has an unusual distribution: the genus ''Recchia'' is native to Mexico, and the sole member of ''Suriana'', ''Suriana maritima, S. mari ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q21878
Angiosperm orders