Urticales
Encyclopedia
Urticales is a botanical name
for what used to be an order
of flowering plants. Before molecular phylogenetics became an important part of plant taxonomy
, Urticales was recognized in many, perhaps even most, systems of plant classification
, with some variations in circumscription
. Among these is the Cronquist system
(1981), which placed the order in the subclass
Hamamelidae [sic], as comprising :
In the APG III system
(2009) the plants belonging to this order, along with four other families, constitute the order Rosales
. Cecropiaceae is no longer recognized as separate from Urticaceae. The families Ulmaceae, Cannabaceae, Moraceae, and Urticaceae form a clade
that has strong statistical support
in phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence
s. This clade has been informally called the urticalean rosids.
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...
for what used to be 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 plants. Before molecular phylogenetics became an important part of plant taxonomy
Plant taxonomy
Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, describes, classifies, identifies, and names plants. It thus is one of the main branches of taxonomy.Plant taxonomy is closely allied to plant systematics, and there is no sharp boundary between the two...
, Urticales was recognized in many, perhaps even most, systems of plant classification
History of plant systematics
The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usually being treated as part of the study of...
, with some variations in 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....
. Among these is 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), which placed the order in the subclass
Subclass
Subclass may refer to:* Subclass , a taxonomic rank intermediate between class and superorder* Subclass , a class that is derived from another class or classes...
Hamamelidae [sic], as comprising :
- family Barbeyaceae
- family CannabaceaeCannabaceaeCannabaceae are a small family of flowering plants. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including Cannabis , Humulus and Celtis...
- family Cecropiaceae
- family MoraceaeMoraceaeMoraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...
- family UlmaceaeUlmaceaeUlmaceae is a family of flowering plant that includes the elms , and the zelkovas . Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution elsewhere except for Australasia.The family was formerly sometimes treated to include the...
- family UrticaceaeUrticaceaeUrticaceae, or the nettle family, is a family of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus Urtica . Urticaceae includes a number of well-known and useful plants, including the aforementioned nettles, Ramie , māmaki , and ajlai .The family includes approximately 2600 species, grouped...
In the 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...
(2009) the plants belonging to this order, along with four other families, constitute the order Rosales
Rosales
Rosales 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...
. Cecropiaceae is no longer recognized as separate from Urticaceae. The families Ulmaceae, Cannabaceae, Moraceae, and Urticaceae form 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...
that has strong statistical support
Resampling (statistics)
In statistics, resampling is any of a variety of methods for doing one of the following:# Estimating the precision of sample statistics by using subsets of available data or drawing randomly with replacement from a set of data points # Exchanging labels on data points when performing significance...
in phylogenetic analyses 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. This clade has been informally called the urticalean rosids.