Oxalidales is 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, included within the rosid subgroup of

eudicots The eudicots or eudicotyledons are flowering plants that have two seed leaves (cotyledons) upon germination. The term derives from ''dicotyledon'' (etymologically, ''eu'' = true; ''di'' = two; ''cotyledon'' = seed leaf). Historically, authors h ...

. This group comprises six families that contain approximately 2000 species in 58 genera. They are trees, shrubs or woody vines which are found in the wet tropics, particularly on mountains, and warm temperate zones, especially in the southern hemisphere. Compound leaves are common in Oxalidales and the majority 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), ...

in this order have five or six sepals and petals. The following families are typically placed here:Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards).

Angiosperm Phylogeny Website The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (or APweb) is a website that presents up-to-date research on the phylogeny and taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) in what is intended to be a user-friendly way. The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical ...

. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ * Family Brunelliaceae * Family Cephalotaceae (''Cephalotus follicularis'') * Family

Connaraceae Connaraceae is a pan-tropical plant family of 19 genera and more than 180 species of largely evergreen trees, woody shrubs and climbers. The family was first described by Robert Brown in 1816 and the name has been conserved. Distribution Connar ...

* Family Cunoniaceae * Family

Elaeocarpaceae Elaeocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Ber ...

* Family Huaceae * Family

Oxalidaceae The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of five genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 570 species in the genus ''Oxalis'' (wood sorrels). Members of this family typically have divid ...

( wood sorrel family) The family Cephalotaceae contains a single species, a

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

found in

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

. Under 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 ...

, most of the above families were placed in the

Rosales Rosales (, ) are 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) Well-known members of Rosales include: ...

. The Oxalidaceae were placed in the

Geraniales Geraniales is a small order (biology), order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subclade of eudicots. The largest family (biology), family in the order is Geraniaceae with over 800 species. In addition, the order includes the smaller ...

, and the Elaeocarpaceae split between the

Malvales The Malvales are an Order (biology), order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within nine Family (biology), families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, w ...

and

Polygalales Fabales is 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 the s ...

, in the latter case being treated as the Tremandraceae.

Phylogeny

The

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of the Oxalidales shown below is adapted from 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 ...

website.

References

External links

Angiosperm orders {{Oxalidales-stub