The Nymphaeales are an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, consisting of three

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

of aquatic plants, the Hydatellaceae, the Cabombaceae, and the

Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate climate, temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains five genera with about 70 know ...

(water lilies). It is one of the three orders of

basal angiosperms The basal angiosperms are the flowering plants which diverged from the lineage leading to most flowering plants. In particular, the most basal angiosperms were called the ANITA grade, which is made up of ''Amborella'' (a single species of shrub f ...

, an early-diverging grade of flowering plants. At least 10 morphological characters unite the Nymphaeales.Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At:

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropy, philanthropist Henry Shaw (philanthropist), Henry Shaw. I ...

Website. (see ''External links'' below). One of the traits is the absence of a

vascular cambium The vascular cambium is the main growth tissue in the stems and roots of many plants exhibiting secondary growth, specifically in dicots such as buttercups and oak trees, gymnosperms such as pine trees, as well as in certain other vascular ...

, which is required to produce both

xylem Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue (biology), tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem; both of these are part of the vascular bundle. The basic function of the xylem is to transport water upward from the roots to parts o ...

(wood) and

phloem Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is ...

, which therefore are missing. Molecular

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ...

are also known.

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant specie ...

, created by the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

and

recognizes about 70 species in 11 genera within the order,The Plant List (website). 2010. (See ''External links'' below.) but a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

study of the genus ''

Nymphaea ''Nymphaea'' () is a genus of hardiness (plants), hardy and tender aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. Many species are cultivated as ornamental plants, and many cultivars have been bred. Some ta ...

'' implies that the number of species could be more than 90. The difference in species numbers is due almost entirely to the difficulty of delineating species in the genus ''Nymphaea''. Most of the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

aquatic herbs with a broad leaf base and large, showy flowers.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Nymphaeales are rhizomatousManaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. (n.d.-b). Nymphaeales Salisb. ex Bercht. & J.Presl. Flora of New Zealand. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://www.nzflora.info/factsheet/taxon/Nymphaeales.html or tuberous, aquaticBerry, P. E. (n.d.). Nymphaeales. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/plant/Nymphaeales or sub-aquatic, annual or perennialJohansson, J. T. (n.d.). Nymphaeales Salisb. ex Bercht. et J. Presl. The Phylogeny of Angiosperms. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from http://angio.bergianska.se/Nymphaeales/Nymphaeales.html herbs. The leaves are submerged, floating, or emerged. The floating leaves are 1 mm to 3.2 m wide.Smith, L. T., Magdalena, C., Przelomska, N. A., Pérez-Escobar, O. A., Melgar-Gómez, D. G., Beck, S., ... & Monro, A. K. (2022)
Revised species delimitation in the giant water lily genus ''Victoria'' (Nymphaeaceae) confirms a new species and has implications for its conservation.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 883151.

Generative characteristics

The plants are bisexual, monoecious or dioecious.

Fossils

The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

record consists especially of seeds, but also pollen, stems, leaves, and flowers. It extends back to the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. The

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor ...

of the Nymphaeales has been estimated to be about 112 million years old. Some have suggested that this age might be too old. A basal member of Nymphaeales, '' Monetianthus'', is known from

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. A fossil member of the Nympheaceae is '' Jaguariba'' from the Early Cretaceous of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Several Cretaceous-age Cabombaceae genera are also known, including '' Scutifolium'' from

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, '' Pluricarpellatia'' from Brazil, and '' Brasenites'' from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The fossil genus '' Notonuphar'', thought to be a close relative of the modern '' Nuphar'', is known from

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

-aged sediments from Seymour Island,

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The genus '' Brasipelta'' Krassilov has been described from the late Cretaceous of Israel.''Brasipelta gregaria'' Krassilov. (n.d.). The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI). Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://ifpni.org/species.htm?id=3CD513C8-3746-4D2C-08A8-D0153805A9EC''Brasipelta'' Krassilov. (n.d.). The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI). Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://ifpni.org/genus.htm?id=4530BA8A-59B8-BEF9-F963-99080BD0449AKrassilov V. A., Lewy Z., Nevo E., & Silantieva N. (2005) Late Cretaceous (Turonian) flora of southern Negev, Israel. The aquatic plant fossil ''

Archaefructus ''Archaefructus'' is an extinct genus of herbaceous aquatic seed plants with three known species. Fossil material assigned to this genus originates from the Yixian Formation in northeastern China, originally dated as late Jurassic but now unde ...

'' from the Early Cretaceous of

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

possibly also belongs to this group.

Classification

The Nymphaeales currently include three families and about 70 to 90 species. This order was not part of the APG II system's 2003 plant classification (unchanged 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 ...

of 1998), which instead had a broadly circumscribed family

(including Cabombaceae) unplaced in any order. The

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a f ...

did separate the Cabombaceae from the Nymphaeaceae and placed them in the order Nymphaeales together with the Hydatellaceae. The family Hydatellaceae was placed among the monocots in previous systems, but a 2007 study found that the family belongs to the Nymphaeales. 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 publish ...

, Hydatellaceae, Cabombaceae and Nymphaeaceae are the three families included in the Nymphaeales. Some earlier systems, such as Cronquist's system of 1981, often included the Ceratophyllaceae and Nelumbonaceae in the Nymphaeales. Although, the

Takhtajan system A list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy, the Takhtajan system of plant classification was published by Armen Takhtajan, in several versions from the 1950s onwards. It is usually compared to the Cronquist system. It admits Para ...

of 1980 separated the Nelumbonales, the new order was retained alongside the Nymphaeales in the superorder Nymphaeanae. The

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a list of systems of plant taxonomy, taxonomic classification system of angiosperms, flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of ...

placed the Nymphaeales in subclass Magnoliidae, in class Magnoliopsida dicotyledons">dicotyledons.html" ;"title="dicotyledons">dicotyledons In addition, Cronquist included the Ceratophyllaceae and split the family Barclayaceae from the Nymphaeaceae. Under the APG II system, the family Cabombaceae was included within the Nymphaeaceae, but could optionally be recognized separately. As of APG III system, APG III, the two families are recognized separately. The Dahlgren system placed the Nymphaeales with the Piperales in superorder Nymphaeanae, within subclass Magnoliideae (dicotyledons). Thorne's 1992 system (and 2000 revision) placed the Nymphaeales as the sole order in the superorder Nymphaeanae within subclass Magnoliideae (=dicotyledons).

References

External links

Nymphaeales
At:
At:botanical databases
At:Plant Science
At:Missouri Botanical Garden
* {{Authority control Angiosperm orders Early Cretaceous plants Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances