Ranunculales

(botany) An order of dicotyledons in the subclass Magnoliidae characterized by its mostly separate carpels, triaperturate pollen, herbaceous or only secondarily woody habit, and frequently numerous stamens.

An order of flowering plants, division Mag-noliophyta (Angiospermae), in the subclass Magnoliidae of the class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The order consists of 8 families and about 3200 species. The vast majority of the species belong to only 3 families, the Ranunculaceae (2000), Berberidaceae (650), and Menispermaceae (425). Within its subclass, the order is characterized by its mostly separate carpels, triaperturate pollen, herbaceous or only secondarily woody habit, frequently numerous stamens, generally more than two sepals, and lack of ethereal oil cells. Many members of the order contain isoquinoline alkaloids, most notably berberin. The barberry (Berberis), in the family Berberidaceae, and the buttercup (Ranunculus), columbine (Aquilegia), larkspur (Delphinium), and wind flower (Anemone), in the family Ranunculaceae, are familiar genera of the Ranunculales. See also Magnoliidae; Magnoliopsida.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: herbs, shrubs and trees: includes families Ranunculaceae; Annonaceae; Berberidaceae; Magnoliaceae; Menispermaceae; Myristicaceae; Nymphaeaceae; Lardizabalaceae; Lauraceae; Calycanthaceae; Ceratophyllaceae; Cercidiphyllaceae
  Synonyms: Ranales, order Ranales, order Ranunculales

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Ranunculales
Ranunculus repens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ranunculales Dumortier
families
See text

Ranunculales is an order of flowering plants. Of necessity it contains the family Ranunculaceae, the buttercup family.

The APG system (1998) and the APG II system (2003) both recognize the order and place it among the basal eudicots, not assigned to a further clade. These systems use this circumscription:

• order Ranunculales

  family Berberidaceae

  family Circaeasteraceae

  [+ family Kingdoniaceae ]

  family Eupteleaceae

  family Lardizabalaceae

  family Menispermaceae

  family Papaveraceae

  [+ family Fumariaceae ]

  [+ family Pteridophyllaceae ]

  family Ranunculaceae

Note: "+ ..." = optional segregrate family, that may be split off from the preceding family.

Under this definition, well-known members of Ranunculales include buttercups, clematis, columbines, delphiniums, and poppies.

The Cronquist system (1981) also recognised the order, but placed it in the subclass Magnoliidae, in class Magnoliopsida [= dicotyledons]. It used this circumscription:

• order Ranunculales

  family Ranunculaceae

  family Circaeasteraceae

  family Berberidaceae

  family Sargentodoxaceae

  family Lardizabalaceae

  family Menispermaceae

  family Coriariaceae

  family Sabiaceae

In the Cronquist system the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae (including the plants in the optional family Pteridophyllaceae) were treated as a separate order Papaverales, placed in this same subclass Magnoliidae.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ranunculales

• NCBI Taxonomy Browser

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