The Ericales are a large and diverse order of

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 in the asterid group of the

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 ...

. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

s, persimmon, ebony,

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...

lingonberry ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra through ...

huckleberry Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. Nomenclature The name 'huckleberry' is a North American variation of the English dialectal ...

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry (botany), berry of several species of woody vines in the genus ''Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, ...

, Brazil nut, argan, sapote,

azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...

s and

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s, heather, heath, impatiens, phlox, Jacob's ladder, primroses, cyclamens, shea,

sapodilla ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, chicozapote, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example natural occurrence is ...

, pouterias, and trumpet pitchers. The order includes 22 families, according to the APG IV system of classification. The Ericales include

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s, bushes,

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s, and

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, they include

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

-deficient mycoheterotrophic plants (e.g., '' Sarcodes sanguinea'') and carnivorous plants (e.g., genus '' Sarracenia''). Mycorrhizal associations are quite common among the order representatives, and three kinds of mycorrhiza are found exclusively among Ericales (namely, ericoid, arbutoid and monotropoid mycorrhiza). In addition, some families among the order are notable for their exceptional ability to accumulate

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

. Many species have five petals, often grown together. Fusion of the petals as a trait was traditionally used to place the order in the subclass

Sympetalae Sympetally (fused petals) is a flower characteristic that historically was used to classify a grouping of plants termed Sympetalae, but this term has been abandoned in newer molecular based classifications, although the grouping has similarity to ...

. Ericales are a cosmopolitan order. Areas of distribution of families vary largely – while some are restricted to tropics, others exist mainly in Arctic or temperate regions. The entire order contains over 8,000 species, of which the Ericaceae account for 2,000–4,000 species (by various estimates). According to molecular studies, the lineage that led to Ericales diverged from other plants about 127 million years or diversified 110 million years ago.

Economic importance

The most commercially used plant in the order is tea (''Camellia sinensis'') from the family Theaceae. The order also includes some edible fruits, including

(esp. ''Actinidia chinensis'' var. ''deliciosa''), persimmon (genus ''Diospyros''),

, Brazil nut, and Mamey sapote. The order also includes shea (''Vitellaria paradoxa''), which is the major dietary lipid source for millions of sub-Saharan Africans. Many Ericales species are cultivated for their showy flowers: well-known examples are

, heather, polyanthus, cyclamen, phlox, and busy Lizzie.

Gallery of photos

Balsam I IMG 9566.jpg, '' Impatiens balsamina'' of Balsaminaceae family Primula rosea I IMG 7210.jpg, '' Primula rosea'' of Primulaceae family Fuyu persimmon fruits, one cut open.jpg, ''

Diospyros kaki ''Diospyros kaki'', the Oriental persimmon, Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon or kaki persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Diospyros''. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780,Publish ...

'' or oriental persimmon of '' Diospyros'' genus and Ebenaceae family

Classification

22 families are recognized as members of the Ericales in the APG IV system of classification: * Family

Actinidiaceae The Actinidiaceae are a small family (biology), family of flowering plants. The family has three genus, genera and about 360 species and is a member of the order Ericales. Distribution They are temperate and subtropical woody plant, woody vines, ...

(

family) * Family Balsaminaceae ( balsam family) Balsam I IMG 9566

* Family Clethraceae ( clethra family) * Family Cyrillaceae ( cyrilla family) * Family Diapensiaceae * Family Ebenaceae ( ebony and persimmon family) * Family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

( heath,

, and

family) * Family

Fouquieria ''Fouquieria'' is a genus of 11 species of desert Flowering plant, flowering plants, the sole genus in the Family (biology), family Fouquieriaceae. The genus is native to North America and includes the ocotillo (''Fouquieria splendens, F. splende ...

ceae ( ocotillo family) * Family Lecythidaceae ( Brazil nut family) * Family

Marcgraviaceae The Marcgraviaceae are a neotropical angiosperm family in the order Ericales. The members of the family are shrubs, woody epiphytes, and lianas, with alternate, pinnately nerved leaves. The flowers are arranged in racemes. The flowers are accom ...

* Family Mitrastemonaceae * Family Pentaphylacaceae * Family Polemoniaceae ( phlox family) * Family Primulaceae ( primrose and snowbell family) * Family Roridulaceae * Family

Sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...

(

family) * Family Sarraceniaceae (American pitcher plant family) * Family Sladeniaceae * Family

Styracaceae The Styracaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing 12 genera and about 160 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The family is ...

( silverbell family) * Family Symplocaceae (sapphireberry family) * Family Tetrameristaceae * Family Theaceae ( tea and

family) Likely phylogenetic relationships between the families of the Ericales:

Previously included families

These families are not recognized in the APG III system but have been in common use in the recent past: * Family Myrsinaceae ( cyclamen and scarlet pimpernel family) → Primulaceae * Family Pellicieraceae → Tetrameristaceae * Family Maesaceae → Primulaceae * Family Ternstroemiaceae → Pentaphylacaceae * Family Theophrastaceae → Primulaceae These make up an early diverging group of asterids. 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 ...

, the Ericales included a smaller group of plants, which were placed among the Dilleniidae: * Family

* Family Cyrillaceae * Family Clethraceae * Family Grubbiaceae * Family Empetraceae * Family Epacridaceae * Family Pyrolaceae * Family Monotropaceae

References

Bibliography