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Laurales

(Order)

Overview

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The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.

The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate zone. The best known species in this order are those of the Lauraceae (for example bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, and Sassafras), and the ornamental shrub Calycanthus of the Calycanthaceae.

The earliest lauraceous fossils are from to the early Cretaceous. It is possible that the ancient origin of this order is one of the reasons for its highly diverged morphology. Indeed, presently no single morphological property is known, which would unify all the members of Laurales. The presently accepted classification is based on molecular and genetic analysis.

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The first botanist to think of the Laurales as a na tural group was H. Hallier in 1905. He viewed them as being derived from the Magnoliales. During some or all of the 20th century, the Laurales generally included Amborella and the plants now classified in Austrobaileyales and Chloranthaceae. They were not removed until the advent of molecular data in the late 20th century; their previous inclusion made it harder to determine the relationships within the Laurales and between the Laurales and other groups.[1]

The following families are included in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system:

Under the older Cronquist system, the Laurales included a slightly different set of families (current placement, where different, in brackets):

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  • Family Monimiaceae (Cronquist included Atherospermataceae and Siparunaceae in Monimiaceae)
  • Family Trimeniaceae (Austrobaileyales)

    • References

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    1. ^ Susanne S. Renner (1999). "Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data". American Journal of Botany 86 (9): 1301?1315. doi:10.2307/2656778. JSTOR 2656778. PMID 10487818  Full text (pdf).
    2. ^ 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 (4): 399?436. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x/full/. 
    3. ^ Soltis, P. S.; D. E. Soltis (2004). "The origin and diversification of Angiosperms". American Journal of Botany 91 (10): 1614?1626. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1614. PMID 21652312. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/10/1614. 

    Taxonomy

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    The Order Laurales is further organized into finer groupings including:

    Families

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    Calycanthaceae

    The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrub or spicebush family) is a small family of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains four genera and only 6-11 species, restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions: [more]

    Gomortegaceae

    Gomortega keule (syn. G. nitida; Spanish names Keule, Queule and Hualhual) is a tree native to Chile. It is the sole species of the genus Gomortega and, according to the APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998), of the monotypic family Gomortegaceae, assigned to the order Laurales in the clade magnoliids. [more]

    Hernandiaceae

    Hernandiaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognised by most taxonomists. [more]

    Lauraceae

    The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family includes about 55 genera with perhaps as many as 4000 species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but one or two genera, including Sassafras are deciduous, and Cassytha is a genus of parasitic vines. [more]

    Monimiaceae

    Monimiaceae is a family of flowering plants, which includes 150-220 species of shrubs and small trees in 18-25 genera. They are native to the southern hemisphere tropics and subtropics. The largest genus is Tambourissa, with 50 species in Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, and the Comoros. The type genus, , is endemic to the Macarenes. [more]

    At least 719 species and subspecies belong to the Family Monimiaceae.

    More info about the Family Monimiaceae may be found here.

    References

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    1. ^ Susanne S. Renner (1999). "Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data". American Journal of Botany 86 (9): 1301?1315. doi:10.2307/2656778. JSTOR 2656778. PMID 10487818  Full text (pdf).
    2. ^ 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< /b> (4): 399?436. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x/full/. 
    3. ^ Soltis, P. S.; D. E. Soltis (2004). "The origin and diversification of Angiosperms". American Journal of Botany 91 (10): 1614?1626. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1614. PMID 21652312. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/10/1614. 

    Sources

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    Last Revised: August 24, 2012
    2012/08/24 13:12:08