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Liliales

(Order)

Overview

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Liliales is an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants. This order of necessity includes the family Liliaceae, but both the family and the order have had a widely disputed history, with the circumscription varying greatly from one taxonomist to another. Well known plants from the order include Lilium (lily), tulip, the North American wildflower Trillium, and greenbrier.

The APG III system (2009) places this order in the clade monocots. In APG III, the family Luzuriagaceae is combined with the family Alstroemeriaceae and the family Petermanniaceae is recognized. APG III uses this circumscription:

Thus circumscribed, this order consists mostly of herbaceous plants, but lianas and shrubs occur. They are mostly perennial plants, with food storage organs such as corms or rhizomes. The family Corsiaceae is notable for being heterotrophs.

The order has worldwide distribution. The larger families (with more than 100 species) are roughly confined to the Northern Hemisphere, or are distributed worldwide, centering on the north. On the other hand, the smaller families (with up to 10 species) are confined to the Southern Hemisphere, or sometimes just to Australia or South America. The total number of species in the order is now about 1300.

As with any herbaceous group, the fossil record of the Liliales is rather scarce. There are several species from the Eocene, such as Petermanniopsis anglesaensis or Smilax, but their identification is not definite. Another known fossil is Ripogonum scandens from the Miocene. Due to the scarcity of data, it seems impossible to determine precisely the age and the initial distribution of the order. It is assumed that the Liliales originate from the Lower Cretaceous, over 100 million years ago. The initial diversification to the families took place between 82 and 48 million years ago (Vinnersten and Bremer, 2001).

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The APG II system (2003) places this order in the clade monocots and uses this circumscription:

The APG system (1998) also placed the order in the clade monocots, but with a slightly different circumscription (missing the family Corsiaceae):

The Cronquist system (1981) placed the order in subclass Liliidae in the class Liliopsida [= monocotyledons] of division Magnoliophyta [= angiosperms]. It used a much wider circumscription (many of the plants here are assigned to Asparagales and Dioscoreales by APG II):

The Thorne system (1992) placed the order in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae [= monocotyledons ] of class Magnoliopsida [= dicotyledons] and used this circumscription:

The Dahlgren system placed the order in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae [= monocotyledons] of class Magnoliopsida [= angiosperms] and used this circumscription:

In the Engler system (1964 update) a similar order was named Liliiflorae, placed in the class Monocotyledoneae of the subdivision Angiospermae.

The Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, used names similar to those in the Engler system: the order was named Liliiflorae placed in the class Monocotyledones of the subdivision Angiospermae. In circumscription the order was fairly similar to that of Cronquist.

Earlier names for this order include the Coronarieae of the Bentham & Hooker system.

b>Liliales is an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants. This order of necessity includes the family Liliaceae, but both the family and the order have had a widely disputed history, with the circumscription varying greatly from one taxonomist to another. Well known plants from the order include Lilium (lily), tulip, the North American wildflower Trillium, and greenbrier.

The APG III system (2009) places this order in the clade monocots. In APG III, the family Luzuriagaceae is combined with the family Alstroemeriaceae and the family Petermanniaceae is recognized. APG III uses this circumscription:

Thus circumscribed, this order consists mostly of herbaceous plants, but lianas and shrubs occur. They are mostly perennial plants, with food storage organs such as corms or rhizomes. The family Corsiaceae is notable for being heterotrophs.

The order has worldwide distribution. The larger families (with more than 100 species) are roughly confined to the Northern Hemisphere, or are distributed worldwide, centering on the north. On the other hand, the smaller families (with up to 10 species) are confined to the Southern Hemisphere, or sometimes just to Australia or South America. The total number of species in the order is now about 1300.

As with any herbaceous group, the fossil record of the Liliales is rather scarce. There are several species from the Eocene, such as Petermanniopsis anglesaensis or Smilax, but their identification is not definite. Another known fossil is Ripogonum scandens from the Miocene. Due to the scarcity of data, it seems impossible to determine precisely the age and the initial distribution of the order. It is assumed that the Liliales originate from the Lower Cretaceous, over 100 million years ago. The initial diversification to the families took place between 82 and 48 million years ago (Vinnersten and Bremer, 2001).

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The APG II system (2003) places this order in the clade monocots and uses this circumscription:

The APG system (1998) also placed the order in the clade monocots, but with a slightly different circumscription (missing the family Corsiaceae):

The Cronquist system (1981) placed the order in subclass Liliidae in the class Liliopsida [= monocotyledons] of division Magnoliophyta [= angiosperms]. It used a much wider circumscription (many of the plants here are assigned to Asparagales and Dioscoreales by APG II):

The Thorne system (1992) placed the order in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae [= monocotyledons ] of class Magnoliopsida [= dicotyledons] and used this circumscription:

The Dahlgren system placed the order in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae [= monocotyledons] of class Magnoliopsida [= angiosperms] and used this circumscription:

In the Engler system (1964 update) a similar order was named Liliiflorae, placed in the class Monocotyledoneae of the subdivision Angiospermae.

The Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, used names similar to those in the Engler system: the order was named Liliiflorae placed in the class Monocotyledones of the subdivision Angiospermae. In circumscription the order was fairly similar to that of Cronquist.

Earlier names for this order include the Coronarieae of the Bentham & Hooker system.

References

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Taxonomy

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The Order Liliales is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

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Aloeaceae

Asphodeloideae is a subfamily of the monocot family Xanthorrhoeaceae in the order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Asphodelaceae. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, Asphodelus. Members of group are native to Africa, central and western Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Central Asia and Australia, with one genus (Bulbinella) having some of its species in New Zealand. The greatest diversity occurs in South Africa. [more]

Alstroemeriaceae

The Alstroemeriaceae is a family of flowering plants, with 200 species in three or four genera, native to the Americas, from Central America to southern South America. [more]

Campynemataceae

[more]

Colchicaceae

Colchicaceae is a botanical name of a family of flowering plants. [more]

Corsiaceae

Corsiaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The APG II system (2003) treats the family in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots. This is a slight change from the APG system, of 1998, which left the family unplaced as to order, but did assign it also to the monocots. [more]

Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation (e.g., Cardiocrinum, Clintonia, Medeola, Prosartes, Scoliopus, Tricyrtis), and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes. Shade-dwelling genera usually have broad, net-veined leaves, fleshy fruits with animal-dispersed seeds, rhizomes, and small, inconspicuous flowers; genera native to sunny habitats usually have narrow, parallel-veined leaves, capsular fruits with wind-dispersed seeds, bulbs, and large, visually conspicuous flowers. [more]

Luzuriagaceae

[more]

Medeolaceae

[more]

Melanthiaceae

Melanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere. The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied. Early authors considered these plants to belong to the family Liliaceae, in part because both their sepals and petals closely resemble each other and are often large and showy like the flowers of the Lily Family., while some more recent taxonomists have placed them in a family Trilliaceae. The most authoritative modern treatment, however, the APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), does recognize such a family and places it in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots. As circumscribed by APG II it includes 11-16 genera of the plants that sometimes have been treated as family . [more]

Petermanniaceae

[more]

Philesiaceae

[more]

Ripogonaceae

[more]

Smilacaceae

Smilacaceae, the greenbrier family, is a family of flowering plants. Up to some decades ago the genera now included in family Smilacaceae were often assigned to a more broadly defined family Liliaceae, but for the past twenty to thirty years most botanists have accepted Smilacaceae as a distinct family. It is considered that the two families evolved[] around 55 millions years ago during the Early Paleogene possibly near the boundary between Paleocene and Eocene. One characteristic that distinguishes Smilacaceae from most of the other members of the Liliaceae-like Liliales is that it has true vessels in its conducting tissue. Another is that the veins of the leaves, between major veins, are reticulate (net-shaped), rather than parallel as in most monocots. [more]

At least 821 species and subspecies belong to the Family Smilacaceae.

More info about the Family Smilacaceae may be found here.

References

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Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:12:25