Piperales is 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 t ...

s (4,170 recognized species). It necessarily includes the family

Piperaceae The Piperaceae (), also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in 5 genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: '' Piper' ...

but other taxa have been included or disincluded variously over time. Well-known plants which may be included in this order include

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

kava Kava or kava kava ('' Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter'; other names for kava include ''ʻawa'' ( Hawai� ...

, pepper elder, lizard's tail, birthwort, and wild ginger.

Classification

APG system

In the

APG IV system The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was published ...

, of 2016, this order is placed in the clade

magnoliids Magnoliids (or Magnoliidae or Magnolianae) are a clade of flowering plants. With more than 10,000 species, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, tulip tree and many others, it is the third-largest group of a ...

and is circumscribed as follows: *order Piperales *: family

Aristolochiaceae The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is ''Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, he ...

(including Asaraceae, Hydnoraceae and

Lactoridaceae ''Lactoris fernandeziana'' is a flowering shrub endemic to the cloud forest of ''Masatierra'' — Robinson Crusoe Island, of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of Chile. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Lactoris''. Taxonomy Th ...

) *: family

*: family Saururaceae This is an expansion from the

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved A ...

, of 1998, which used the same placement (in the magnoliids) but used this circumscription: * order Piperales'' *: family Aristolochiaceae *: family Lactoridaceae *: family Piperaceae *: family Saururaceae

Earlier systems

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) ...

, of 1981, placed the order in the subclass Magnoliidae of class

Magnoliopsida Magnoliopsida is a valid botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its circumscription can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classif ...

dicotyledons 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, ...

and used this circumscription: * order Piperales *: family Chloranthaceae *: family Piperaceae *: family Saururaceae The Engler system, in its update of 1964, placed the order in subclassis Archichlamydeae in class

Dicotyledoneae 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 ...

and used this circumscription: * order Piperales *: family Chloranthaceae *: family Lactoridaceae *: family Piperaceae *: family Saururaceae The

Wettstein system A system of plant taxonomy, the Wettstein system recognised the following main groups, according to Richard Wettstein's ''Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik'' (1901–1924). 3rd edition (1924) Outline Synopsis * Flagellatae p. 65 * ...

, latest version published in 1935, assigned the order to the

Monochlamydeae Monochlamydae is an artificial taxonomic group used in the identification of plants. It was largely abandoned by taxonomists in the 19th century, but has been often used since. Bentham and Hooker's classification, published in 1880, used this gr ...

in subclass

Choripetalae Choripetalae Eichler (1876), is a descriptive botanical name used in the Eichler and Wettstein systems for a group of flowering plants. It was one of two groups within the Dicotyledones, the other being the Sympetalae. The latter have fused pet ...

of class Dicotyledones. It used the circumscription: * order Piperales *: family Piperaceae

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27287 Angiosperm orders