The Fagales are an order (biology), order of flowering plants, including some of the best-known trees. The order name is derived from genus ''Fagus'', beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledons. The families and genera currently included are as follows: *Betulaceae – birch family (''Alnus'', ''Betula'', ''Carpinus'', ''Corylus'', ''Ostrya'', ''Ostryopsis'') *Casuarinaceae – she-oak family (''Allocasuarina'', ''Casuarina'', ''Ceuthostoma'', ''Gymnostoma'') *Fagaceae – beech family (''Castanea (genus), Castanea'', ''Castanopsis'', ''Chrysolepis'', ''Colombobalanus'', ''Beech, Fagus'', ''Lithocarpus'', ''Notholithocarpus'', ''Quercus'') *Juglandaceae – walnut family (''Alfaroa'', ''Carya'', ''Cyclocarya'', ''Engelhardia'', ''Juglans'', ''Oreomunnea'', ''Platycarya'', ''Pterocarya'', ''Rhoiptelea'') *Myricaceae – bayberry family (''Canacomyrica'', ''Comptonia (plant), Comptonia'', ''Myrica'') *Nothofagaceae – southern beech family (''Nothofagus'') *Ticodendron, Ticodendraceae – ticodendron family (''Ticodendron'') 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. 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 the Myricales, so defined, are paraphyletic to the other two groups.

Characteristics

Most Fagales are wind pollinated and are Monoecy, monoecious with unisexual flowers.

Evolutionary history

The oldest member of the order is the flower ''Soepadmoa cupulata'' preserved in the late Turonian-Coniacian New Jersey amber, which is a Mosaic evolution, mosaic with characteristics characteristic of both ''Nothofagus'' and other Fagales, suggesting that the ancestor of all Fagales was ''Nothofagus''-like.

Systematics

Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships:

References

External links

Missouri Botanical Gardens - Fagales
{{Taxonbar, from=Q21881 Fagales, Angiosperm orders