Rosids – Malvids:
Brassicales - Malvales - Sapindales
Spring 2013
Fig. 8.30
Core Eudicots: Rosids-Malvids
Malvids
Order Brassicales
Brassicaceae* – Mustards
Order Malvales
Malvaceae* – Mallows, cotton, chocolate
Order Sapindales
Sapindaceae* – Maples, lychee
Rutaceae – Citrus
*family required for recognition
Rosids-Malvids:
Brassicales: Brassicaceae
(‘Cruciferae’ - The Mustard Family)
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Cosmopolitan, most diverse in the Mediterranean region, SW Asia,
and western North America
Herbs, shrubs or trees; (sometimes herbs); glucosinolates
(mustard oils) present in all taxa
Diversity: 3,400-3,700 species in 321-338 genera
Flowers: Sepals 4; petals 4 (cruciform), often clawed; stamens 6,
all + equal or usually 2 shorter and 4 longer (tetradynamous);
carpels usually 2, connate, superior ovary; fruit a capsule, usually
dehiscing by splitting into 2 valves leaving a persistent cross-wall,
a silique or silicle
Significant features: 4-merous flowers; often pioneers after
disturbance
Special uses: Many important food plants – cabbage, broccoli,
cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea), turnip
(Brassica rapa), mustards (Brassica spp.), horseradish (Armoracia
rusticana), and a wide range of ornamentals
Required family; required genus: Brassica
Brassicaceae
clawed petals
tetradynamous stamens
(2 short + 4 long)
cruciform petals
silique - silicle
Arabidopsis thaliana
The model plant of
choice for much of
molecular biology.
Brassicaceae: Brassica
-annuals or biennials
-at least the lower leaves
deeply pinnatifid, lyrate
or pinnate
-racemes without bracts
-sepals erect during anthesis
-petals yellow
-ovary and silique with a
prominent beak
30+ species
Brassica
oleracea
spring ephemerals
Brassicaceae
ornamentals
Brassicaceae – often weedy or pioneering
Brassicaceae
Garlic mustard
(Alliaria petiolata)
Kill it!
Rosids-Malvids:
Malvales: Malvaceae
(The Mallow Family)
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Cosmopolitan
Trees, shrubs, lianas or herbs; vegetative parts with mucilage;
leaves often palmately veined and lobed (may be pinnately
veined) or palmately compound; stellate hairs
Diversity: 4,200 species in ca. 250 genera
Flowers: Sepals & petals 5, calyx valvate; stamens 5 to many,
monadelphous or polydelphous; carpels 2 to many, connate,
superior ovary; fruit usually a loculicidal capsule, also berry,
samara, schizocarp, or drupe
Significant features: basic inflorescence unit a modified, 3bracted cyme; flowers often associated with conspicuous
bracts forming an epicalyx; nectaries of densely packed,
multicellular glandular hairs, usually on sepals
Special uses: cotton (Gossypium), cacao or chocolate
(Theobroma), durian (Durio), balsa wood (Ochroma); many
ornamentals, e.g. hibiscus (Hibiscus)
Required family
Malvaceae
Polydelphous stamens
Monadelphous stamens
Theobroma cacao
Malvaceae: Gossypium
-subshrubs to shrubs
-seeds + globular, often
with hair (lint)
Malvaceae: Gossypium
-subshrubs to shrubs
-seeds + globular, often
with hair (lint)
epicalyx
Rosids-Malvids:
Sapindales: Sapindaceae
(The Maple Family)
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Mainly tropical and subtropical, a few diverse in the temperate
zone (e.g., Acer, Aesculus)
Trees, shrubs or lianas with tendrils
Diversity: 1,450-1,580 species in 131-135 genera
Flowers: Unisexual or bisexual; sepals & petals 4-5, petals often
clawed, with more or less basal appendages adaxially; usually an
extrastaminal nectar disk present; stamens 8 or fewer (rarely up to
12), filaments usually hairy or papillose; carpels 2 or 3, connate,
superior ovary; fruit a capsule, berry, or schizocarp; seeds with a
deep fold or pocket in the seed coat
Significant features: presence of saponins in many
Special uses: lumber, maple syrup (Acer saccharum); many
ornamentals; tropical fruits (longan, lychee, rambutan)
Required family; required genus: Acer
Sapindaceae: Acer
-trees or sometimes shrubs
-leaves opposite, simple and
palmately lobed, rarely pinnately
or palmately compound
-calyx usually 5-lobed
-petals 0 or as many as the calyx lobes
-ovary with 2 connate, winged carpels,
2 ovules per carpel
-fruit a schizocarp, splitting into 2
samaroid mericarps
Some treatments retain this as Aceraceae!
Rosids-Malvids:
Sapindales: Rutaceae
(The Citrus Family)
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Nearly cosmopolitan, primarily tropical to subtropical
Trees or shrubs, sometimes with thorns, spines or prickles
Diversity: 1,800-1,900 species in 158-161 genera
Flowers: Sepals & petals 4 – 5; stamens 8-10; annular nectar
disk; carpels 4-5 to many, connate, superior ovary; axile
placentation; fruit a drupe, capsule, samara, cluster of follicles or
modified berry with leathery, glandular rind (i.e., hesperidium in
Citrus).
Significant features: Aromatic oils chemically complex; simple
or compound leaves with pellucid dots containing aromatic
ethereal oils
Special uses: many desirable fruits - oranges, lemons, limes,
tangerine, grapefruit (Citrus), kumquat (Fortunella), several
ornamentals, e.g. cork tree (Phellodendron)
Family not required
Pellucid dots
Rutaceae: Citrus
-fruit a hesperidium