Laurales
Atherospermataceae
Calycanthaceae
Gomortegaceae
Hernandiaceae
Lauraceae
Monimiaceae
Siparunaceae
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The
Laurales are an order of
flowering plants. They are a basal group of
dicots, closely related to the
Magnoliales.
The order includes about 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families. Most its species are tropical trees.
The earliest lauralean fossils belong to the early
Cretaceous. It is possible that the ancient origin of this order is one of the reasons for its highly diverged morphology. Indeed, presently no single morphological property is known, which would unify all the members of Laurales. This fact used to cause much argument among botanists regarding the correct borders of the order. Only at the end of 20th centure the methods of molecular analysis provided the presently accepted classification.
The following families are included in newer systems:
Under the older
Cronquist system, the Laurales included a slightly different set of families:
- Family Amborellaceae
- Family Trimeniaceae
- Family Monimiaceae
- Family Gomortegaceae
- Family Calycanthaceae
- Family Idiospermaceae
- Family Lauraceae
- Family Hernandiaceae
References
- K. J. Perleb (1826). Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreichs, 174. Magner, Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland.
- Renner, Susanne S (May 2001) Laurales. In: Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. London: Nature Publishing Group. http://www.els.net/
Full text: http://www.umsl.edu/~biosrenn/Laurales.ELS.pdf
- Renner S. S. (1999). Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data. American Journal of Botany 86(9), 1301-1315. (http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/abstract/86/9/1301 )
Full text: http://www.umsl.edu/~biosrenn/Laurales%20AJB%20paper.pdf
- Endress P. K., Igersheim A. (1997). Gynoecium diversity and systematics of the Laurales. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 125(2), 93-168.
