The Aquifoliales are an order 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, including the

Aquifoliaceae ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergree ...

(holly) family, and also the

Helwingiaceae The genus ''Helwingia'' consists of shrubs or rarely small trees native to eastern Asia, the Himalayas, and northern Indochina. It is the only genus in the family Helwingiaceae. Description The plants have alternate, evergreen or deciduous leave ...

(2-5 species of temperate

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s) and the

Phyllonomaceae ''Phyllonoma'' is a genus consisting of 4 species of trees and shrubs. ''Phyllonoma'' is the sole genus in the family Phyllonomaceae (an alternative name for the family is Dulongiaceae). ''Phyllonoma'' species are native to South and Central Amer ...

(4 species of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and

s). In 2001, the families

Stemonuraceae Stemonuraceae is a eudicot family of flowering plants. Genera This listing was sourced from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew * '' Cantleya'' * '' Codiocarpus'' * '' Discophora'' * '' Gastrolepis'' * ''Gomphand ...

and

Cardiopteridaceae Cardiopteridaceae is a eudicot family of flowering plants. It consists of about 43 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines, mostly of the tropics, but with a few in temperate regions.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alas ...

were added to this order. This

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

of Aquifoliales was recognized by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...

when they published the

APG II system 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 ...

in 2003. In 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) ...

, there is no Aquifoliales order: the Aquifoliaceae are placed within the order

Celastrales The Celastrales are an order of flowering plants found throughout the tropics and subtropics, with only a few species extending far into the temperate regions. The 1200"Lepidobotryaceae", "Parnassiaceae", and "Celastraceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki ( ...

and the others are in other families.

References

Angiosperm orders {{Asterid-stub