Ranunculales
Encyclopedia
Ranunculales is an order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 of flowering plant
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. Of necessity it contains the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Ranunculaceae
Ranunculaceae
Ranunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....

, the buttercup family, because the name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...

 of the order is based
Basionym
Basionym is a term used in botany, regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...

 on the name of a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 in that family. Ranunculales belongs to a paraphyletic group
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 known as the basal eudicots. It is the most basal
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...

 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...

 in this group; in other words, it is sister to the remaining eudicots.

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to an informal international group of systematic botanists who came together to try to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge about plant relationships discovered through phylogenetic studies., three...

 recognized seven families in Ranunculales in their APG III system
APG III system
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...

, published
Academic publishing
Academic publishing describes the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in journal article, book or thesis form. The part of academic written output that is not formally published but merely printed up or posted is often called...

 in 2009. In the preceding 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...

, they offered the option of three 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...

 families as shown below.
  • order Ranunculales
    family Berberidaceae
    Berberidaceae
    Berberidaceae are a family of 15 genera flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order Ranunculales. The family contains about 570 species, of which the majority are in Berberis...

    family Circaeasteraceae
    Circaeasteraceae
    Circaeasteraceae is a family of one to two species of herbaceous plants native to China and the Himalayas.The family has been recognized by many taxonomists. The APG II system , recognizes it and places it in the order Ranunculales in the clade eudicots...

    [+ family Kingdoniaceae
    Kingdoniaceae
    Kingdonia uniflora is a species of perennial herbs native to China. The plants have one leaf and a short flower stalk with a small flower.It grows at high elevations in West and North China.- Classification :...

     ]
    family Eupteleaceae
    Eupteleaceae
    Eupteleaceae is a family of flowering plants.The family has been recognized by many taxonomists. The APG II system , recognizes it and places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots. The family consists of a single genus Euptelea, with two species, native to eastern Asia.-External...

    family Lardizabalaceae
    Lardizabalaceae
    Lardizabalaceae is a family of flowering plants.The family has been universally recognized by taxonomists, including the APG II system , which places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots....

    family Menispermaceae
    Menispermaceae
    Menispermaceae, the botanical name for a family of flowering plants, has been universally recognized by taxonomists. Tubocurare, a neuromuscular blocker and active ingredient in curare, is derived from plants of this family....

    family Papaveraceae
    Papaveraceae
    Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...

    [+ family Fumariaceae
    Fumariaceae
    Fumariaceae is a family of about 575 species of herbaceous plants in 20 genera, native to the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa.-Flower shape:Plants in the fumitory family are easily recognised by their peculiar flowers with two dissimilar pairs of...

     ]
    [+ family Pteridophyllaceae ]
    family Ranunculaceae
    Ranunculaceae
    Ranunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....


Note: "+ ..." = optionally separate family (that may be split off from the preceding family).

Under this definition, well-known members of Ranunculales include buttercups, clematis
Clematis
Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners beginning with Clematis × jackmanii, a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars are being produced constantly. They are mainly of Chinese and Japanese...

, columbines
Aquilegia
Aquilegia is a genus of about 60-70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers.-Etymology:The genus name Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle , because...

, delphinium
Delphinium
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, larkspur, is shared with the closely related genus Consolida...

s, and poppies
Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...

.

The Cronquist system
Cronquist system
The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's system places flowering plants into two...

 (1981) also recognised the order, but placed it in the subclass Magnoliidae
Magnoliidae
Magnoliids are a group of about 9,000 species of flowering plants, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others. They are characterized by trimerous flowers, pollen with one pore, and usually branching-veined leaves.-Classification:Traditionally,...

, in class
Class (biology)
In biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...

 Magnoliopsida
Magnoliopsida
Magnoliopsida is a valid botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its circumscription can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being discussed.-Cronquist and...

 [= dicotyledons]. It used this circumscription:
  • order Ranunculales
    family Ranunculaceae
    Ranunculaceae
    Ranunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....

    family Circaeasteraceae
    Circaeasteraceae
    Circaeasteraceae is a family of one to two species of herbaceous plants native to China and the Himalayas.The family has been recognized by many taxonomists. The APG II system , recognizes it and places it in the order Ranunculales in the clade eudicots...

    family Berberidaceae
    Berberidaceae
    Berberidaceae are a family of 15 genera flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order Ranunculales. The family contains about 570 species, of which the majority are in Berberis...

    family Sargentodoxaceae
    family Lardizabalaceae
    Lardizabalaceae
    Lardizabalaceae is a family of flowering plants.The family has been universally recognized by taxonomists, including the APG II system , which places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots....

    family Menispermaceae
    Menispermaceae
    Menispermaceae, the botanical name for a family of flowering plants, has been universally recognized by taxonomists. Tubocurare, a neuromuscular blocker and active ingredient in curare, is derived from plants of this family....

    family Coriariaceae
    family Sabiaceae
    Sabiaceae
    Sabiaceae 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...



In the Cronquist system, the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae (including the plants in the optional family Pteridophyllaceae) were treated as a separate order Papaverales, placed in this same subclass Magnoliidae. The Cronquist circumscription
Circumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....

 of Ranunculales is now known to be polyphyletic. Sabiaceae is in a clade of basal eudicots separate from Ranunculales. Coriariaceae is now placed in the order Cucurbitales
Cucurbitales
The 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...

.

A phylogeny of Ranunculales was published in 2009, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...

s. The authors of this paper
Scientific literature
Scientific literature comprises scientific publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences, and within a scientific field is often abbreviated as the literature. Academic publishing is the process of placing the results of one's research into the...

 revised the subfamilies and tribes
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

of the order.

External links

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