Dipsacales

(botany) An order of dicotyledonous herbs and shrubs in the subclass Asteridae characterized by an inferior ovary and usually opposite leaves.

An order of flowering plants (angiosperms) in the asterid I group of the eudicotyledons consisting of around 6 families and almost 1000 species. Like many asterids of the asterid II group, Dipsacales have an inferior ovary and opposite leaves. They also have fewer stamens than petals (or petal lobes), and the flowers are often bilaterally symmetric or of irregular symmetry. Family limits have changed recently as a result of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence studies, but the species content of the order is still similar to previous systems of classification. The flowers are typically arranged in heads, similar to those of their close relatives in Asterales and Apiales, but the ovary often contains more than one seed (reduced to a single seed in Dipsacaceae and Valerianaceae). Familiar members of Dipsacales include elderberry (Sambucus, Adoxaceae), honeysuckle (Lonicera, Caprifoliaceae), and teasel (Dipsacus, Dipsacaceae). Viburnum (Adoxaceae) and Abelia (Linnaeaceae) are commonly planted ornamental shrubs. See also Asterales; Magnoliophyta; Plant kingdom.

Dipsacales
Dipsacus pilosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Dipsacales
Families
Adoxaceae (moschatel family) Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle family) Diervillaceae Dipsacaceae (teasel family) Linnaeaceae (twinflower family) Morinaceae Valerianaceae (valerian family)

The Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons.

Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the more recent Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG II) system, the circumscription of the order is much the same but the families are circumscribed differently. APG includes Adoxaceae and a broadly circumscribed Caprifoliaceae, the latter including the alternatively acceptable families Diervillaceae, Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Morinaceae, and Valerianaceae.

Under the APG II definition some well-known members of Dipsacales are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and valerian.

A few other families may also belong near this order. These include the Columelliaceae, Paracryphiaceae, and Sphenostemonaceae.

References

• Bell, C. D., E. J. Edwards, S. T. Kim, & M. J. Donoghue. 2001. Dipsacales phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA sequences. Harvard Papers in Botany 6:481-499.
• Donoghue, M. J., C. D. Bell, & R. C. Winkworth. 2003. The evolution of reproductive characters in Dipsacales. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164:S453-S464

External links

• Dipsacales at Tree of Life
• Phylogeny of the Asteridae s. str. based on rbcL sequences, with particular reference to the Dipsacales (link to abstract)

• Media related to Dipsacales at Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dipsacales

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