The
Brassicales are an
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s, belonging to the eurosids II group of
dicotyledonDicotyledons, or "dicots", is a name for a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
s under the APG II system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of
glucosinolateThe glucosinolates are a class of organic compounds that contain sulfur and nitrogen and are derived from glucose and an amino acid. They occur as secondary metabolites of almost all plants of the order Brassicales , but also in the genus Drypetes .-Sharp tasting plant molecules:Plants use...
(mustard oil) compounds. Most systems of classification have included this order, although sometimes under the name
Capparales (the name chosen depending on which is thought to have priority).
The order typically contains the following families:
- Family Akaniaceae
Akaniaceae is a family of flowering plants in order Brassicales. It comprises two monotypic genera, Akania and Bretschneidera....
- Family Bataceae (salt-tolerant shrubs from America and Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes . He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the...
)
- Family Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
(mustardMustards are several plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis whose small mustard seeds are used as a spice and, by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, are turned into the condiment known as mustard...
and cabbageThe cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae , and is used as a leafy green vegetable...
family) (may include the CleomaceaeCleomaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera. These genera were previously included in the family Capparaceae, but were raised to a distinct family when DNA evidence showed that the genera included in it are more closely...
)
- Family Capparaceae
Capparaceae , commonly known as the Caper family, is a family of plants in order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, it contains 33 genera and about 700 species...
(caperThe caper is a perennial spiny bush that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant. The bush is native to the Mediterranean region, growing wild on walls or in rocky coastal areas throughout...
family, sometimes included in BrassicaceaeBrassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
)
- Family Caricaceae
Caricaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, native to tropical regions of Central and South America and Africa. They are short-lived evergreen pachycaul shrubs or small trees growing to 5-10 m tall; many bear edible fruit....
(papayaThe papaya is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classic cultures...
family)
- Family Gyrostemonaceae
Gyrostemonaceae is a family of plants in order Brassicales. It comprises 6 genera, totalling about 18 species. All are endemic to temperate parts of Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with small, often narrow leaves, and small flowers. They are wind-pollinated....
- Family Koeberliniaceae
Koeberlinia spinosa is a species of flowering plant native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico known by several common names, including Crown of Thorns, Allthorn, and Crucifixion Thorn. It is the sole species of the monotypic genus Koeberlinia, which is sometimes considered to be...
- Family Limnanthaceae
Limnanthaceae is a family of plants in the order Brassicales. It contains two genera totalling eight species. One of the better known plants in the family is the Poached egg plant ....
(meadowfoam family)
- Family Moringa
Moringa is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. This genus comprises 13 species, which span a great range of life forms, from tiny herbs to massive trees, all from tropical and sub-tropical climates...
ceae (thirteen species of trees from Africa and India)
- Family Pentadiplandraceae
- Family Resedaceae
Resedaceae is a family of generally herbaceous dicotyledonous plants comprising some 70 species in six genera:*Caylusea*Ochradenus*Oligomeris*Randonia*Reseda*Sesamoides...
(mignonette family)
- Family Salvadoraceae
Salvadoraceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales, comprising 3 genera totalling around 12 species. They occur in Africa, including Madagascar; South East Asia; and have also been found on Java, suggesting they are probably found in much of Malesia...
- Family Setchellanthaceae
- Family Tovariaceae
- Family Tropaeolaceae (nasturtium
Nasturtium literally "nose-twister" or "nose-tweaker"), as a common name, refers to a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Tropaeolum , one of three genera in the family Tropaeolaceae...
family)
Under the
Cronquist systemA system of plant taxonomy, the Cronquist system is a scheme for the classification of flowering plants . This system was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's...
, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the "
Dilleniidae".
The
Brassicales are an
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s, belonging to the eurosids II group of
dicotyledonDicotyledons, or "dicots", is a name for a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
s under the APG II system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of
glucosinolateThe glucosinolates are a class of organic compounds that contain sulfur and nitrogen and are derived from glucose and an amino acid. They occur as secondary metabolites of almost all plants of the order Brassicales , but also in the genus Drypetes .-Sharp tasting plant molecules:Plants use...
(mustard oil) compounds. Most systems of classification have included this order, although sometimes under the name
Capparales (the name chosen depending on which is thought to have priority).
The order typically contains the following families:
- Family Akaniaceae
Akaniaceae is a family of flowering plants in order Brassicales. It comprises two monotypic genera, Akania and Bretschneidera....
- Family Bataceae (salt-tolerant shrubs from America and Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes . He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the...
)
- Family Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
(mustardMustards are several plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis whose small mustard seeds are used as a spice and, by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, are turned into the condiment known as mustard...
and cabbageThe cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae , and is used as a leafy green vegetable...
family) (may include the CleomaceaeCleomaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera. These genera were previously included in the family Capparaceae, but were raised to a distinct family when DNA evidence showed that the genera included in it are more closely...
)
- Family Capparaceae
Capparaceae , commonly known as the Caper family, is a family of plants in order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, it contains 33 genera and about 700 species...
(caperThe caper is a perennial spiny bush that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant. The bush is native to the Mediterranean region, growing wild on walls or in rocky coastal areas throughout...
family, sometimes included in BrassicaceaeBrassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
)
- Family Caricaceae
Caricaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, native to tropical regions of Central and South America and Africa. They are short-lived evergreen pachycaul shrubs or small trees growing to 5-10 m tall; many bear edible fruit....
(papayaThe papaya is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classic cultures...
family)
- Family Gyrostemonaceae
Gyrostemonaceae is a family of plants in order Brassicales. It comprises 6 genera, totalling about 18 species. All are endemic to temperate parts of Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with small, often narrow leaves, and small flowers. They are wind-pollinated....
- Family Koeberliniaceae
Koeberlinia spinosa is a species of flowering plant native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico known by several common names, including Crown of Thorns, Allthorn, and Crucifixion Thorn. It is the sole species of the monotypic genus Koeberlinia, which is sometimes considered to be...
- Family Limnanthaceae
Limnanthaceae is a family of plants in the order Brassicales. It contains two genera totalling eight species. One of the better known plants in the family is the Poached egg plant ....
(meadowfoam family)
- Family Moringa
Moringa is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. This genus comprises 13 species, which span a great range of life forms, from tiny herbs to massive trees, all from tropical and sub-tropical climates...
ceae (thirteen species of trees from Africa and India)
- Family Pentadiplandraceae
- Family Resedaceae
Resedaceae is a family of generally herbaceous dicotyledonous plants comprising some 70 species in six genera:*Caylusea*Ochradenus*Oligomeris*Randonia*Reseda*Sesamoides...
(mignonette family)
- Family Salvadoraceae
Salvadoraceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales, comprising 3 genera totalling around 12 species. They occur in Africa, including Madagascar; South East Asia; and have also been found on Java, suggesting they are probably found in much of Malesia...
- Family Setchellanthaceae
- Family Tovariaceae
- Family Tropaeolaceae (nasturtium
Nasturtium literally "nose-twister" or "nose-tweaker"), as a common name, refers to a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Tropaeolum , one of three genera in the family Tropaeolaceae...
family)
Under the
Cronquist systemA system of plant taxonomy, the Cronquist system is a scheme for the classification of flowering plants . This system was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's...
, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the "
Dilleniidae". The only families included were the
BrassicaceaeBrassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
and
CapparaceaeCapparaceae , commonly known as the Caper family, is a family of plants in order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, it contains 33 genera and about 700 species...
(treated as separate families), the Tovariaceae,
ResedaceaeResedaceae is a family of generally herbaceous dicotyledonous plants comprising some 70 species in six genera:*Caylusea*Ochradenus*Oligomeris*Randonia*Reseda*Sesamoides...
, and Moringaceae. Other taxa now included here were placed in various different orders.
The families Capparaceae and Brassicaceae are closely related. One group, consisting of
CleomeCleome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae. Previously it had been placed in family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae genera to be more closely related to Brassicaceae than Capparaceae...
and related genera, was traditionally included in the Capparaceae but doing so results in a paraphyletic Capparaceae. Therefore, this group is generally now either included in the Brassicaceae or as its own family,
CleomaceaeCleomaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera. These genera were previously included in the family Capparaceae, but were raised to a distinct family when DNA evidence showed that the genera included in it are more closely...
.