Ericales

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Order of eudicot flowering plants

title: "Ericales" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ericales", "angiosperm-orders"] description: "Order of eudicot flowering plants" topic_path: "general/ericales" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericales" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Order of eudicot flowering plants ::

| taxon = Ericales | image = RhododendronSimsiiFlowers2.jpg | image_caption = Rhododendron simsii | authority = Bercht. & J.Presl | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision =

The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, lingonberry, huckleberry, kiwifruit, Brazil nut, argan, sapote, azaleas and rhododendrons, heather, heath, impatiens, phlox, Jacob's ladder, primroses, cyclamens, shea, sapodilla, pouterias, and trumpet pitchers.

The order includes 22 families, according to the APG IV system of classification.

The Ericales include trees, bushes, lianas, and herbaceous plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, they include chlorophyll-deficient mycoheterotrophic plants (e.g., Sarcodes sanguinea) and carnivorous plants (e.g., genus Sarracenia). Mycorrhizal associations are quite common among the order representatives, and three kinds of mycorrhiza are found exclusively among Ericales (namely, ericoid, arbutoid and monotropoid mycorrhiza). In addition, some families among the order are notable for their exceptional ability to accumulate aluminum.

Many species have five petals, often grown together. Fusion of the petals as a trait was traditionally used to place the order in the subclass Sympetalae.

Ericales are a cosmopolitan order. Areas of distribution of families vary largely – while some are restricted to tropics, others exist mainly in Arctic or temperate regions. The entire order contains over 8,000 species, of which the Ericaceae account for 2,000–4,000 species (by various estimates).

According to molecular studies, the lineage that led to Ericales diverged from other plants about 127 million years or diversified 110 million years ago.

Economic importance

The most commercially used plant in the order is tea (Camellia sinensis) from the family Theaceae. The order also includes some edible fruits, including kiwifruit (esp. Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa), persimmon (genus Diospyros), blueberry, huckleberry, cranberry, Brazil nut, and Mamey sapote. The order also includes shea (Vitellaria paradoxa), which is the major dietary lipid source for millions of sub-Saharan Africans. Many Ericales species are cultivated for their showy flowers: well-known examples are azalea, rhododendron, camellia, heather, polyanthus, cyclamen, phlox, and busy Lizzie.

Gallery of photos

Balsam I IMG 9566.jpg|Impatiens balsamina of Balsaminaceae family Primula rosea I IMG 7210.jpg|Primula rosea of Primulaceae family Fuyu persimmon fruits, one cut open.jpg|Diospyros kaki or oriental persimmon of Diospyros genus and Ebenaceae family

Classification

22 families are recognized as members of the Ericales in the APG IV system of classification:

Likely phylogenetic relationships between the families of the Ericales: |label1=Ericales |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=ericoids |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Cyrillaceae |2=Ericaceae |2=Clethraceae |label2=sarracenioids |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Roridulaceae |2=Actinidiaceae |2=Sarraceniaceae |2={{clade |label1= styracoids |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Styracaceae |2=Diapensiaceae |2=Symplocaceae |2=Theaceae |2=Pentaphylacaceae |2={{clade |label1=primuloids |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Primulaceae |2=Ebenaceae |2=Sapotaceae |2={{clade |label1=polemonioids |1={{clade |1=Polemoniaceae |2=Fouquieriaceae |2={{clade |1=Lecythidaceae |2=Mitrastemonaceae |2={{clade |label1=balsaminoids |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Marcgraviaceae |2=Tetrameristaceae |2=Balsaminaceae

Previously included families

These families are not recognized in the APG III system but have been in common use in the recent past:

These make up an early diverging group of asterids. Under the Cronquist system, the Ericales included a smaller group of plants, which were placed among the Dilleniidae:

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
  2. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
  3. (Jansen et al., 2004).
  4. Robyns, W.. (31 December 1972). "Outline of a New System of Orders and Families of Sympetalae". Bulletin du Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
  5. (2004). "Molecular phylogenetic dating of asterid flowering plants shows early Cretaceous diversification". Systematic Biology.
  6. (2018-05-01). "Phylogeny, historical biogeography, and diversification of angiosperm order Ericales suggest ancient Neotropical and East Asian connections". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
  7. "Soltis, Douglas; Soltis, Pamela; Endress, Peter; Chase, Mark W.; Manchester, Steven; Judd, Walter; Majure, Lucas; Mavrodiev, Evgeny (2018). Phylogeny and Evolution of the Angiosperms (p. 262). University of Chicago Press. Kindle Edition.".
  8. Bremer, Birgitta. (August 2002). "Phylogenetics of asterids based on 3 coding and 3 non-coding chloroplast DNA markers and the utility of non-coding DNA at higher taxonomic levels". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

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