Commelinales

Commelinales Temporal range: 80 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Late Cretaceous - Recent
Tradescantia pallida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Commelinales Mirb. ex Bercht. & J.Presl[1]
Families
Commelinaceae Haemodoraceae Hanguanaceae Philydraceae Pontederiaceae
Synonyms
Haemodorales

Commelinales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. It comprises five families: Commelinaceae, Haemodoraceae, Hanguanaceae, Philydraceae, and Pontederiaceae. All the families combined contain over 800 species in about 70 genera; the majority of species are in the Commelinaceae. Plants in the order share a number of synapomorphies that tie them together, such as a lack of mycorrhizal associations and tapetal raphides. Estimates differ as to when the Comminales evolved, but most suggest an origin and diversification sometime during the mid- to late Cretaceous. Depending on the methods used, studies suggest a range of origin between 123 and 73 million years, with diversification occurring within the group 110 to 66 million years ago. The order's closest relatives are in the Zingiberales, which includes ginger, bananas, cardamom, and others.^[2]

According to the most recent classification scheme, the APG III of 2009, the order includes five families: Commelinaceae, Haemodoraceae, Hanguanaceae, Philydraceae, and Pontederiaceae. This is unchanged from the APG II of 2003, but different from the older APG system of 1998, which did not include Hanguanaceae. The still older Cronquist system of 1981, which was not based on molecular data, placed the order in subclass Commelinidae of class Liliopsida and included the families Commelinaceae, Mayacaceae, Rapateaceae and Xyridaceae. These families are now known to be only distantly related.^[3][4]

References

1. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
2. Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, November 2011.
3. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. 2003 An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141: 399-436.
4. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. 2009 An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161: 105-121.

External links

Media related to Commelinales at Wikimedia Commons

• NCBI Taxonomy Browser