Overview
Asparagales is an of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications. No one is sure, but it is supposed that this group of plants evolved between late and early Cretaceous. But because of the difficult classification of the families it's not entirely certain when they evolved.
Apg Ii System
The APG II system of 2003, places the order in the clade monocots and uses the following circumscription:
- order Asparagales
Note: "+ ..." = optional segregrate family, that may be split off from the preceding family.
APG II has consolidated some of the families in the earlier APG system, while recognizing an alternative, that allows smaller families to be seggregated and still follow the 'APG system'. Under the newclassification system a taxonomist could, for example, correctly choose to include the daylilies (Hemerocallis) in family Hemerocallidaceae, or in family Xanthorrhoeaceae.
Apg System (1998)
The APG system of 1998 also placed the order in the clade monocots but used this circumscription:
- order Asparagales
- family Agapanthaceae
- family Agavaceae
- family Alliaceae
- family Amaryllidaceae
- family Anemarrhenaceae
- family Anthericaceae
- family Aphyllanthaceae
- family Asparagaceae
- family Asphodelaceae
- family Asteliaceae
- family Behniaceae
- family Blandfordiaceae
- family Boryaceae
- family Convallariaceae
- family Doryanthaceae
- family Hemerocallidaceae
- family Herreriaceae
- family Hyacinthaceae
- family Hypoxidaceae
- family Iridaceae
- family Ixioliriaceae
- family Lanariaceae
- family Laxmanniaceae
- family Orchidaceae
- family Tecophilaeaceae
- family Themidaceae
- family Xanthorrhoeaceae
- family Xeronemataceae
Kubitzki System
The volume (1998) in the Kubitzki series of reference books on vascular plants used this circumscription:
- order Asparagales
- family Agapanthaceae
- family Agavaceae
- family Alliaceae
- family Amaryllidaceae
- family Anemarrhenaceae
- family Anthericaceae
- family Aphyllanthaceae
- family Asparagaceae
- family Asphodelaceae
- family Asteliaceae
- family Behniaceae
- family Blandfordiaceae
- family Boryaceae
- family Convallariaceae
- family Doryanthaceae
- family Dracaenaceae
- family Eriospermaceae
- family Hemerocallidaceae
- family Herreriaceae
- family Hyacinthaceae
- family Hostaceae
- family Hypoxidaceae
- family Iridaceae
- family Ixioliriaceae
- family Johnsoniaceae
- family Lanariaceae
- family Lomandraceae
- family Nolinaceae
- family Orchidaceae
- family Ruscaceae
- family Tecophilaeaceae
- family Themidaceae
- family Xanthorrhoeaceae
Dahlgren System
The Dahlgren system placed the order in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae [= monocotyledons] of class Magnoliopsida [= angiosperms] and used this circumscription:
- order Asparagales
- family Agavaceae
- family Alliaceae
- family Amaryllidaceae
- family Anthericaceae
- family Aphyllanthaceae
- family Asparagaceae
- family Asphodelaceae
- family Asteliaceae
- family Blandfordiaceae
- family Calectasiaceae
- family Convallariaceae
- family Cyanastraceae
- family Dasypogonaceae
- family Doryanthaceae
- family Dracaenaceae
- family Eriospermaceae
- family Hemerocallidaceae
- family Herreriaceae
- family Hostaceae
- family Hyacinthaceae
- family Hypoxidaceae
- family Ixioliriaceae
- family Lanariaceae
- family Luzuriagaceae
- family Nolinaceae
- family Philesiaceae
- family Phormiaceae
- family Ruscaceae
- family Tecophilaeaceae
- family Xanthorrhoeaceae
Other Systems
The Cronquist system did not recognise the order, and placed many of the plants involved in order Liliales (in subclass Liliidae in class Liliopsida [= monocotyledons]). Some genera were even included in family Liliaceae.
The Wettstein system, last revision of 1935, did not recognise such an order, and placed many of the plants involved in order Liliiflorae in class Monocotyledones.
Photos
Taxonomy
The Order Asparagales is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Suborder (3): Asparagineae · Asphodelineae · Asteliineae
- Family (16): Aloaceae · Anthericaceae · Aphyllanthaceae · Asparagaceae · Asphodelaceae · Asteliaceae · Blandfordiaceae · Convallariaceae · Dianellaceae · Doryanthaceae · Dracaenaceae · Herreriaceae · Nolinaceae · Ophiopogonaceae · Phormiaceae · Ruscaceae
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 16,078 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in the Order Asparagales.
Families
Aloaceae
Trees, shrubs, and succulents, perennial, simple to sparsely branched, rhizomatous, some tuberous-thickened. Leaves simple, alternate, usually crowded at bases of stems or ends of branches, sessile; blade fleshy, margins often prickly, venation parallel. Inflorescences terminal, axillary, or lateral, spicate, racemose, or paniculate. Flowers 3-merous, short- to long-pedicellate, rarely sessile; perianth red, brown, yellow, orange, or whitish; tepals petaloid, connivent or connate basally to almost entirely into tube, sometimes fleshy; stamens sometimes 3, usually 6, exserted or included; anthers dorsifixed, dehiscence antrorse; pollen grains monosulcate; ovary 3-carpellate, placentation axile, usually with septal nectaries; style terminal; stigmas punctate, discoid, or 3-lobed. Fruits capsular, rarely baccate, dehiscence loculicidal, apical. Seeds usually winged or flattened.[1] [more]
Anthericaceae
Agavaceae is a of plants that includes many well-known desert and dry zone types such as the agave, yucca, and Joshua tree. The family includes about 550-600 species in around 18 genera, and is widespread in the tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of the world. [more]
Aphyllanthaceae
Asparagaceae
Asparagaceae is the of a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by quite a few taxonomists, but hardly universally: often the plants involved are treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae. [more]
Asphodelaceae
Asphodelaceae is the of a family of flowering plants. Not all taxonomists recognize Asphodelaceae as a family and the circumscription of the family has varied over time. [more]
Asteliaceae
Asteliaceae is the of a family of flowering plants. Such a family has not been recognized by many taxonomists. [more]
Blandfordiaceae
Convallariaceae
Ruscaceae is a family of in the order Asparagales that includes several genera previously included in the Liliaceae, for example in the Cronquist system. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system recommends its inclusion in Asparagaceae but allows for its optional recognition as a monophyletic family; this is a change from the APG system of 1998, which did not accept the family at all. In the past, the genera included here were included in a wide interpretation of the family Liliaceae, or divided into the families Convallariaceae, Dracaenaceae, Nolinaceae. [more]
Dianellaceae
Doryanthaceae
Dracaenaceae
Ruscaceae is a family of in the order Asparagales that includes several genera previously included in the Liliaceae, for example in the Cronquist system. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system recommends its inclusion in Asparagaceae but allows for its optional recognition as a monophyletic family; this is a change from the APG system of 1998, which did not accept the family at all. In the past, the genera included here were included in a wide interpretation of the family Liliaceae, or divided into the families Convallariaceae, Dracaenaceae, Nolinaceae. [more]
Herreriaceae
Nolinaceae
Ophiopogonaceae
Phormiaceae
Ruscaceae
At least 76 species and subspecies belong to the Family Ruscaceae.
More info about the Family Ruscaceae may be found here.
References
- Kubitzki, K. (1998). Conspectus of Families treated in this Volume. In: Kubitzki, K.(Editor): The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol.3. Springer-Verlag. Berlin, Germany. ISBN 3-540-64060-6
Footnotes
- Walter C. Holmes & Heather L. White "Aloaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 12, 15, 18, 20, 410. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
Sources
- The text on this page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes material from Wikipedia retrieved Friday, November 14, 2008.
- The distribution map on the Distribution tab comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is used with permission.
- Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
- The GMapImageCutter is used under license from the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.
- The technology underlying this page, including the Image Browser and controls behind Keep Exploring, is owned by the BayScience Foundation. All rights are reserved.