Sympetally (fused

petals Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''coroll ...

) 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 the modern term

asterids Asterids are a large clade (monophyly, monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 Order_(biology), orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked cl ...

History

Sympetalae Rchb. (1828), meaning “with fused

”, is a

descriptive botanical name Descriptive botanical names are scientific names of groups of plants that are irregular, not being derived systematically from the name of a type genus. They may describe some characteristics of the group in general or may be a name already in exi ...

used in the

Eichler Several people are named Eichler: * August W. Eichler (1839–1887), German botanist * Caroline Eichler (1808/9–1843), German inventor, first woman to be awarded a patent (for her leg prosthesis) * Eunice Eichler (1932–2017), New Zealand Salvat ...

, Engler, and

Wettstein system A list of systems of plant taxonomy, 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 Syn ...

s for a group 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 (angiosperms). In this group the flowers have a separate

calyx CALYX, Inc. is a non-profit publisher of art and literature by women founded in 1976 based in Corvallis, Oregon. CALYX publishes both '' CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women'' twice a year and CALYX Books, which publishes one to three ...

and corolla and in which the corolla

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s are fused, at least at their base, a condition known as sympetally. Prior to the

phylogenic 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 data ...

classifications of

August Eichler August Wilhelm Eichler, also known under his Latinized name, Augustus Guilielmus Eichler (22 April 1839 – 2 March 1887), was a German botanist who developed a new system of classification of plants to reflect the concept of evolution. His au ...

and his successors this group corresponds to the

Gamopetalae Gamopetalae is an artificial historical group used in the identification of plants based on Bentham & Hooker system, Bentham and Hooker's classification system. Use by Bentham and Hooker George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker published this ...

Bentham and Hooker A taxonomic system for seed plants was published in Bentham and Hooker's ''Genera plantarum ad exemplaria imprimis in herbariis kewensibus servata definita'' in three volumes between 1862 and 1883. George Bentham (1800–1884) and Joseph Dalton ...

, gamopetally being a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of sympetally. This was one of the three divisions of

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, ...

in their system. In Eichler's ''Blüthendiagramme'', the class Dicotyleae was divided into two subclasses, the Sympetalae (also classified as Metachlamydeae) and the

Choripetalae Choripetalae Eichler (1876), is a descriptive botanical name used in the Eichler and Wettstein systems to categorize a group of flowering plants. It represents one of two subdivisions within the Dicotyledones The dicotyledons, also known a ...

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with K ...

and Karl Prantl also listed Sympetalae as a division of the class Dicotyledoneae in their system, ''Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'', with Sympetalae being composed of gamopetalous families having gamopetalous corollas.

Alfred Rendle Alfred Barton Rendle FRS (19 January 1865 – 11 January 1938) was an English botanist. Rendle was born in Lewisham to John Samuel and Jane Wilson Rendle. He was educated in Lewisham where he first became interested in plants, St Olave's Gr ...

similarly described Sympetalae as originating from

dicot 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, ...

s, and then divided them into Pentacyclicae and Tetracyclicae in accordance with the number of flower parts in each group, four and five respectively. According to Engler and Prantl, Sympetalae includes the following orders:

Diapensiales Diapensiaceae is a small family of flowering plants, which includes 15 species in 6 genera. The genera include '' Berneuxia'' Decne. (1 species), '' Diapensia'' L. (5 species), '' Galax'' Sims (1 species), ''Pyxidanthera'' Michx. (2 species), '' ...

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...

Primulales Primulales was an order of flowering plants. This order was recognized in several systems with little variation in circumscription (see Bentham & Hooker, Engler and Wettstein system). In the classification system of Dahlgren the Primulales were ...

Plumbaginales Plumbaginales is an order of flowering plants. The order is recognized by several systems, such as the Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, the Engler system, in its update of 1964 and the Cronquist system, 1981. Its circumscription is typica ...

Ebenales Ebenales is an order of flowering plants. This order was recognized in several systems, for example the Bentham & Hooker system and the Engler system, although the Wettstein system preferred the name Diospyrales'. In the 1981 version of the Cron ...

, Contortae,

Tubiflorae ''Tubiflorae'' is a botanical name, meaning “with tubular flowers”. It was used in the Engler system (and derived systems such as the Wettstein system) for: * an order in the ''Sympetalae''. This order included such families as ''Convolvulac ...

Plantaginales Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "pla ...

Rubiales Rubiales may refer to: Places * Rubiales, Aragon, Spain * Rubiales oil field, Llanos Basin, Meta Department, Colombia People * Amparo Rubiales (born 1945), Spanish politician * Luis Rubiales (born 1977), Spanish soccer player and former president ...

Cucurbitales The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. This order mostly belongs to tropical areas, with limited presence in subtropical and temperate regions. The order includes shrubs and trees, togeth ...

, and Campanulatae. Sympetalous flowers are found in many angiosperms, but it was the combination of sympetally with a "stamen whorl isomerous and alternate with the corolla-lobes, or stamens fewer than the corolla lobes" that

Takhtajan Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian (; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JAHN; 10 June 1910 – 13 November 2009), was a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figu ...

(1964) used to define the subclass Asteridae, and later by Cronquist (1981), and later, corresponding to the

in the modern

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 ...

(APG) system, based on

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

. Since sympetally has arisen independently many times in evolution (

homoplasy Homoplasy, in biology and phylogenetics, is the term used to describe a feature that has been gained or lost independently in separate lineages over the course of evolution. This is different from homology, which is the term used to characterize ...

), on its own it is not useful for

taxonomic classification In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

Examples

* Lady's bedstraw (''

Galium verum ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kam ...

'') * Olive (''

Olea europaea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...

'') * Northern highbush blueberry (''

Vaccinium corymbosum ''Vaccinium corymbosum'', the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry. Description ''Vaccinium ...

'') * Willow gentian (''

Gentiana asclepiadea ''Gentiana asclepiadea'', the willow gentian, is a species of flowering plant of the genus ''Gentiana'' in the family Gentianaceae, native to central and eastern Europe. It occurs primarily in mountain (montane) woodland, though it may be found i ...

'') * Lavender (''

Lavandula angustifolia ''Lavandula angustifolia'', formerly ''L. officinalis'', is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Croatia etc.). Its common names include lavender, true lavender and English lavender (though ...

'') * Jalap (''

Ipomoea purga ''Ipomoea purga'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Ipomoea''. It is commonly referred to as jalap and is probably also the source of the John the Conqueror amulet legend. Description ''Ipomoea purga'' is described as a vine that ca ...

'')

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend Historically recognized angiosperm taxa

History

Examples

See also

References

Bibliography