Eudicots
Encyclopedia
Eudicots and Eudicotyledons are botanical terms introduced by Doyle & Hotton (1991) to refer to a monophyletic group of flowering plant
s that had been called tricolpates or non-Magnoliid dicots by previous authors. The term means, literally, "true dicotyledons" as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicotyledons and have typical dicotyledonous characters. The term "eudicots" has been widely adopted to refer to one of the two largest clade
s of angiosperms (constituting over 70% of angiosperm species), monocots being the other. The remaining dicots are sometimes referred to as paleodicots but this term has not been widely adopted as it does not refer to a monophyletic group.
A large number of familiar plants are eudicots. A few are forget-me-not
, cabbage
, apple
, dandelion, buttercup, maple
and macadamia
.
Another name for the eudicots is tricolpate
s, a name which refers to the structure of the pollen
. The group has tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it. These pollen have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the other seed plants (that is the gymnosperms, the monocots and the paleodicots) produce monosulcate pollen, with a single pore set in a differently oriented groove called the sulcus. The name "tricolpates" is preferred by some botanists in order to avoid confusion with the dicots, a non-monophyletic group (Judd & Olmstead 2004).
The name eudicots (plural) is used in the APG system
, of 1998, and APG II system
, of 2003, for classification of angiosperms. It is applied to a clade
, a monophyletic group, which includes most of the (former) dicotyledon
s.
A second study has suggested that the core eudicots can be divided into two clades - Pentapetalae - comprising all core eudicots except Gunnerales - and Gunnerales
.
Pentapetalae can be then divided into three clades:
Within the core eudicots, the largest groups are the "rosids" (core group with the prefix "eu−") and the "asterids" (core group with the prefix "eu−").
In more detail, within each clade some unplaced families and orders (unplaced genera are not mentioned):
Note : “ + ....” = optional, as a segregate
of the previous family.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s that had been called tricolpates or non-Magnoliid dicots by previous authors. The term means, literally, "true dicotyledons" as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicotyledons and have typical dicotyledonous characters. The term "eudicots" has been widely adopted to refer to one of the two largest clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
s of angiosperms (constituting over 70% of angiosperm species), monocots being the other. The remaining dicots are sometimes referred to as paleodicots but this term has not been widely adopted as it does not refer to a monophyletic group.
A large number of familiar plants are eudicots. A few are forget-me-not
Forget-me-not
Myosotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that are commonly called Forget-me-nots. Its common name was calqued from the French, "ne m'oubliez pas" and first used in English in c. 1532. Similar names and variations are found in many languages.-Description:There are...
, cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
, dandelion, buttercup, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
and macadamia
Macadamia
Macadamia is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia , New Caledonia and Sulawesi in Indonesia ....
.
Another name for the eudicots is tricolpate
Tricolpate
Tricolpate refers to a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, the "true dicotyledons" Tricolpate refers to a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, the "true dicotyledons" Tricolpate refers to a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, the "true...
s, a name which refers to the structure of the pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
. The group has tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it. These pollen have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the other seed plants (that is the gymnosperms, the monocots and the paleodicots) produce monosulcate pollen, with a single pore set in a differently oriented groove called the sulcus. The name "tricolpates" is preferred by some botanists in order to avoid confusion with the dicots, a non-monophyletic group (Judd & Olmstead 2004).
The name eudicots (plural) is used in the APG system
APG system
The APG system of plant classification is the first, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system, and then in 2009 by a further...
, of 1998, and APG II system
APG II system
The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009...
, of 2003, for classification of angiosperms. It is applied to a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
, a monophyletic group, which includes most of the (former) dicotyledon
Dicotyledon
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
s.
Subdivisions
The eudicots can be divided into two groups: the basal eudicots and the core eudicots. Basal eudicots is an informal name for a paraphyletic group. The core eudicots are a monophyletic group.A second study has suggested that the core eudicots can be divided into two clades - Pentapetalae - comprising all core eudicots except Gunnerales - and Gunnerales
Gunnerales
Gunnerales is an order of flowering plants. In the APG III system it contains two genera: Gunnera and Myrothamnus. These are assigned to two separate families . In the Cronquist system Gunneraceae was placed in the Haloragales and Myrothamnaceae in the Hamamelidales.-External links:* in Stevens,...
.
Pentapetalae can be then divided into three clades:
- (i) a "superrosid" clade consisting of RosidaeRosidaeUnder the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature , Rosidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. Circumscription of the subclass will vary with the taxonomic system being used; the only requirement being that it includes the family Rosaceae....
, VitaceaeVitaceaeVitaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants including the grapevine and Virginia creeper. The family name is derived from the genus Vitis...
and SaxifragalesSaxifragalesSaxifragales is an order of flowering plants. Their closest relatives are a large eudicot group known as the rosids by the definition of rosids given in the APG II classification system. Some authors define the rosids more widely, including Saxifragales as their most basal group. Saxifragales is... - (ii) a "superasterid" clade consisting of BerberidopsidalesBerberidopsidalesBerberidopsidales Doweld is a botanical name at the rank of order. This name is only newly published: such an order has been recognized by very few taxonomists. The APG II system, of 2003, merely mentions the possibility of recognizing the order, as...
, SantalalesSantalalesSantalales is an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions.Most have seeds without a testa, which is unusual for flowering plants...
, CaryophyllalesCaryophyllalesCaryophyllales is an order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves.-Description:...
and AsteridaeAsteridaeAsteridae is a clade of plants, known for their flowers. Asteridae has been ranked as a subclass, but this ranking has varied depending on the taxonomy being used... - (iii) DilleniaceaeDilleniaceaeDilleniaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It is known to gardeners for the genus Hibbertia, which contains many commercially valuable garden species....
Within the core eudicots, the largest groups are the "rosids" (core group with the prefix "eu−") and the "asterids" (core group with the prefix "eu−").
- eudicots :
- core eudicots :
- rosidsRosidsThe rosids are members of a large clade of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms. The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classification. These orders, in turn, together comprise about 140 families...
:- eurosids I
- eurosids II
- asteridsAsteridsIn the APG II system for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids refers to a clade .Most of the taxa belonging to this clade had been referred to the Asteridae in the Cronquist system and to the Sympetalae in earlier systems...
:- euasterids I
- euasterids II
- rosids
- core eudicots :
In more detail, within each clade some unplaced families and orders (unplaced genera are not mentioned):
- clade eudicots
-
-
- family BuxaceaeBuxaceaeBuxaceae are a small family of four or five genera and about 90-120 species of flowering plants. They are shrubs and small trees, with a cosmopolitan distribution...
[+ family DidymelaceaeDidymelaceaeDidymelaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family has been recognised by a fair number of taxonomists, at least over the past few decades....
] - family SabiaceaeSabiaceaeSabiaceae is a family of flowering plants, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern Asia and the Americas.In the Cronquist system the family was placed in the order Ranunculales, but more recent classifications place it as the sole family in the order Sabiales, or , as unplaced to...
- family TrochodendraceaeTrochodendraceaeTrochodendraceae is a family of flowering plants with two living genera found in southeast Asia. The two living species share the feature of secondary xylem without vessels, which is quite rare in angiosperms...
[+ family Tetracentraceae]
- family Buxaceae
- order RanunculalesRanunculalesRanunculales is an order of flowering plants. Of necessity it contains the family Ranunculaceae, the buttercup family, because the name of the order is based on the name of a genus in that family. Ranunculales belongs to a paraphyletic group known as the basal eudicots...
- order ProtealesProtealesProteales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. Such an order has been recognized by almost all taxonomists.-Families:The APG II system, of 2003, also recognizes this order, and places it in the clade eudicots with this circumscription:...
-
- clade core eudicots
-
-
- family Aextoxicaceae
- family BerberidopsidaceaeBerberidopsidaceaeBerberidopsidaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by only a few taxonomists: the plants involved have often been treated as belonging to family Flacourtiaceae....
- family DilleniaceaeDilleniaceaeDilleniaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It is known to gardeners for the genus Hibbertia, which contains many commercially valuable garden species....
- order GunneralesGunneralesGunnerales is an order of flowering plants. In the APG III system it contains two genera: Gunnera and Myrothamnus. These are assigned to two separate families . In the Cronquist system Gunneraceae was placed in the Haloragales and Myrothamnaceae in the Hamamelidales.-External links:* in Stevens,...
- order CaryophyllalesCaryophyllalesCaryophyllales is an order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves.-Description:...
- order SaxifragalesSaxifragalesSaxifragales is an order of flowering plants. Their closest relatives are a large eudicot group known as the rosids by the definition of rosids given in the APG II classification system. Some authors define the rosids more widely, including Saxifragales as their most basal group. Saxifragales is...
- order SantalalesSantalalesSantalales is an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions.Most have seeds without a testa, which is unusual for flowering plants...
-
- clade rosidsRosidsThe rosids are members of a large clade of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms. The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classification. These orders, in turn, together comprise about 140 families...
-
-
- family AphloiaceaeAphloiaceaeAphloiaceae Takht. 1985, is a monogeneric family of flowering plants. It contains only one species Aphloia theiformis Benn., a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees occurring in East Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands and the Seychelles....
- family GeissolomataceaeGeissolomataceaeThe Geissolomataceae is a monotypic family of flowering plants native to the Cape Province of South Africa. The plants are xerophytic evergreen shrubs and are known to accumulate aluminum....
- family Ixerbaceae
- family PicramniaceaePicramniaceaeThe Picramniales are a small, mainly neotropical order of plants containing one family, the Picramniaceae, and three genera Alvaradoa, Nothotalisia and Picramnia. Members of the order were formerly placed in the family Simaroubaceae or misidentified as species in the family Sapindaceae, in the...
- family Strassburgeriaceae
- family VitaceaeVitaceaeVitaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants including the grapevine and Virginia creeper. The family name is derived from the genus Vitis...
- family Aphloiaceae
- order CrossosomatalesCrossosomatalesThe Crossosomatales are an order, newly recognized by the AGP II, of flowering plants, included within the Rosids, which are part of the eudicots...
- order GeranialesGeranialesGeraniales are a small order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subgroup of dicotyledons. The largest family in the order is Geraniaceae with over 800 species. In addition, the order includes some small families, contributing together another less than 40 species...
- order MyrtalesMyrtalesThe Myrtales are an order of flowering plants placed as a basal group within the rosid group of dicotyledons...
-
- clade eurosids I
-
-
- family ZygophyllaceaeZygophyllaceaeThe Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. It includes around 285 species in 22 genera.In the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales...
[+ family Krameriaceae] - family HuaceaeHuaceaeHuaceae is a family of plant in the rosids group, which has been classed in the orders Malpighiales, Malvales, and Violales or in its own order Huales. The APG II system places it in the clade eurosids I, whereas the APG III system of 2009 placed it within the Oxalidales. It contains the following...
- family Zygophyllaceae
- order CelastralesCelastralesCelastrales is an order of flowering plants. They are found throughout the tropics and subtropics, with only a few species extending far into the temperate regions. There are about 1200 to 1350 species in about 100 genera. All but 7 of these genera are in the large family Celastraceae...
- order MalpighialesMalpighialesMalpighiales is one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 16000 species, approximately 7.8% of the eudicots. The order is very diverse and hard to recognize except with molecular phylogenetic evidence. It is not part of any of the classification systems that are based only on...
- order OxalidalesOxalidalesThe Oxalidales are an order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subgroup of eudicots. The following families are typically placed here:* Family Brunelliaceae* Family Cephalotaceae * Family Connaraceae...
- order FabalesFabalesFabales is an order of flowering plants. It is included in the rosid group of the eudicots in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II classification system...
- order RosalesRosalesRosales is an order of flowering plants. It is one of the four orders in the nitrogen fixing clade of the fabids and is sister to a clade consisting of Fagales and Cucurbitales. It contains about 7700 species, distributed into about 260 genera. Rosales comprises nine families, the type family...
- order CucurbitalesCucurbitalesThe 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 subtropic and temperate regions. The order includes shrubs and trees, together with many herbs and climbers...
- order FagalesFagalesThe Fagales are an order of flowering plants, including some of the best known trees. The order name is derived from genus Fagus, Beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledons...
-
-
- clade eurosids II
-
-
- family TapisciaceaeTapisciaceaeTapisciaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Until recently it had been abandoned by taxonomists, and it was not recognised in the APG II system of 2003. Recently, however, it has been reinstated to encompass the two small genera Tapiscia and Huertea....
- family Tapisciaceae
- order BrassicalesBrassicalesThe Brassicales are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the eurosids II group of dicotyledons under the APG II system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of glucosinolate compounds...
- order MalvalesMalvalesMalvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, it includes about 6000 species within nine families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots....
- order SapindalesSapindalesSapindales is a botanical name for an order of flowering plants. Well-known members of Sapindales include citrus; maples, horse-chestnuts, lychees and rambutans; mangos and cashews; frankincense and myrrh; mahogany and neem....
-
-
-
- clade asteridsAsteridsIn the APG II system for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids refers to a clade .Most of the taxa belonging to this clade had been referred to the Asteridae in the Cronquist system and to the Sympetalae in earlier systems...
-
- order CornalesCornalesCornales is an order of flowering plants, basal among the asterids, containing about 600 species. Plants within Cornales usually have four-parted flowers, drupaceous fruits, and inferior gynoecia topped with disc-shaped nectaries...
- order EricalesEricalesThe Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons, including for example tea, persimmon, blueberry, Brazil nut, and azalea. The order includes trees and bushes, lianas and herbaceous plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, the Ericales include chlorophyll-deficient...
- order Cornales
- clade euasterids I
-
-
- family BoraginaceaeBoraginaceaeBoraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....
- family IcacinaceaeIcacinaceaeIcacinaceae is a family of flowering plants.It consists of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics.The family was traditionally circumscribed quite broadly, with around 55 genera totalling over 400 species...
- family Oncothecaceae
- family Vahliaceae
- family Boraginaceae
- order GarryalesGarryalesThe Garryales are a small order of dicotyledons, including only two families and three genera:* Family Garryaceae**Garrya**Aucuba* Family Eucommiaceae**Eucommia...
- order SolanalesSolanalesThe Solanales are an order of flowering plants, included in the asterid group of dicotyledons. Some older sources used the name Polemoniales for this order....
- order GentianalesGentianalesGentianales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons.The circumscription of Gentiales in the Cronquist system included a broadly defined Loganiaceae , Retziaceae, Gentianaceae, Saccifoliaceae, Apocynaceae, and Asclepiadaceae...
- order LamialesLamialesLamiales is an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes approximately 11,000 species divided into about 20 families...
-
-
- clade euasterids II
-
-
- family BruniaceaeBruniaceaeBruniaceae is a family of shrubs native to the cape region of South Africa. They are mostly restricted to the Cape Province, but a small number of species occur in KwaZulu-Natal....
- family ColumelliaceaeColumelliaceaeColumelliaceae is a family of trees and shrubs native to the Andes of South America.In the APG II taxonomy they are placed in the order Lamiales, but a 2008 study suggested that they are sister to the Bruniaceae, and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website proposes incorporating this finding by placing...
[+ family Desfontainiaceae] - family Eremosynaceae
- family EscalloniaceaeEscalloniaceaeThe Escalloniaceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 130 species in seven genera. In the APG II system it is one of eight families in the euasterids II clade that are unplaced as to order...
- family ParacryphiaceaeParacryphiaceaeParacryphiaceae is a family of woody shrubs and trees native to Australia, south-east Asia, and New Caledonia. Under the APG II system, this family contains two genera: the monotypic Paracryphia, endemic to New Caledonia; and Quintinia, with 25 species in the Philippines, New Guinea, the east coast...
- family Polyosmaceae
- family Sphenostemonacae
- family Tribelaceae
- family Bruniaceae
- order AquifolialesAquifolialesThe Aquifoliales are an order of flowering plants, including most notably the Aquifoliaceae, or holly family, and also the Helwingiaceae and the Phyllonomaceae . In 2001, the families Stemonuraceae and Cardiopteridaceae were added to this order...
- order ApialesApialesThe Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families given at right are those recognized in the APG III system. This is typical of the newer classifications, though there is some slight variation, and in particular the Torriceliaceae may be divided...
- order DipsacalesDipsacalesThe Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons.Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the more recent Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, the circumscription of the order is...
- order AsteralesAsteralesAsterales is an order of dicotyledonous flowering plants that includes the composite family and its related families.The order is a cosmopolite, and includes mostly herbaceous species, although a small number of trees and shrubs are also present.The Asterales can be characterized on the...
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-
Note : “ + ....” = optional, as a segregate
Segregate (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, a segregate, or a segregate taxon is created when a taxon is split off, from another taxon. This other taxon will be better known, usually bigger, and will continue to exist, even after the segregate taxon has been split off...
of the previous family.