All Topics  
Ericales

 
Ericales

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Ericales
 
 
  Topics Ericales Topic Home

The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledon
Dicotyledon

Dicotyledons, 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, including for example tea
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
, persimmon
Persimmon

A persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family ....
, blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, Brazil nut
Brazil Nut

The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed.The Brazil nut tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia....
, and azalea
Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera , and subgenus Tsutsuji ....
. The order includes tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and bush
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
es, liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
s and herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 plants. Together with ordinary autophytic
Photosynthesis

File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
 plants, the Ericales include chlorophyll
Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from Greek language: ?????? and f????? ....
-deficient myco-heterotrophic plants (e. g. Sarcodes sanguinea) and carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods....
s (e. g. genus Sarracenia
Sarracenia

Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora....
).

Many species have five petals, often grown together.

Mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza

A mycorrhiza is a symbiosis association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. In a mycorrhizal association the fungus may colonize the roots of a host plant either intracellularly or extracellularly....
 is an interesting property, frequently associated with the Ericales.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Ericales'
Start a new discussion about 'Ericales'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledon
Dicotyledon

Dicotyledons, 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, including for example tea
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
, persimmon
Persimmon

A persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family ....
, blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, Brazil nut
Brazil Nut

The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed.The Brazil nut tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia....
, and azalea
Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera , and subgenus Tsutsuji ....
. The order includes tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and bush
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
es, liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
s and herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 plants. Together with ordinary autophytic
Photosynthesis

File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
 plants, the Ericales include chlorophyll
Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from Greek language: ?????? and f????? ....
-deficient myco-heterotrophic plants (e. g. Sarcodes sanguinea) and carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods....
s (e. g. genus Sarracenia
Sarracenia

Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora....
).

Many species have five petals, often grown together.

Mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza

A mycorrhiza is a symbiosis association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. In a mycorrhizal association the fungus may colonize the roots of a host plant either intracellularly or extracellularly....
 is an interesting property, frequently associated with the Ericales. Indeed, the symbiosis with root fungi is quite common among the order representatives, and there are even three kinds of it which can be found exclusively among Ericales (namely, ericoid, arbutoid and monotropoid mycorrhiza). In additional, some families among the order are notable for their exceptional ability to accumulate aluminum (Jansen et al., 2004).

Ericales are a cosmopolitic order. Areas of distribution of families vary largely - while some are restricted to tropics, others exist mainly in Arctic or temperate regions. The entire order contains over 8000 species, of which the Ericaceae account for 2000-4000 species (by various estimates).

Economical importance

The most profitable plant in the order is tea
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
 (Camellia sinensis) from the Theaceae
Theaceae

The Theaceae is a family of flowering plants, composed of shrubs and trees. The Theaceae is part of order Ericales, in the branch of the dicots known as the Asterids....
 family. The order also includes some edible fruits, including kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa), persimmon
Persimmon

A persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family ....
 (genus Diospyros), blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, huckleberry
Huckleberry

Huckleberry may refer to:*Huckleberry plants from the family Ericaceae*Red Huckleberry *Garden huckleberry ...
 and cranberry
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, Brazil nut
Brazil Nut

The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed.The Brazil nut tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia....
, and Mamey sapote
Mamey sapote

The mamey sapote is a species of tree that is native to southern Mexico. Today, the tree is cultivated not only in Mexico, but also in Central America, the Caribbean, and South Florida for its fruit, which is commonly eaten in many Latin American countries....
. The order also includes shea
Shea

Butyrospermum parkii, Shea or Shea nut, is a tree indigenous to Africa, occurring in Mali, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, C?te d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Uganda....
 (Vitellaria paradoxa), which is the major dietary lipid source for millions of sub-Saharan Africans. Many Ericales species are cultivated for their showy flowers: well-known examples are azalea
Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera , and subgenus Tsutsuji ....
, rhododendron
Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays....
, camellia
Camellia

Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia....
, polyanthus
Polyanthus

Polyanthus is a name used to describe several things in botany:*Polyanthus, a common name for members of the genus Primula *Polyanthus , a genus of bamboo found in China...
, cyclamen
Cyclamen

Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants, traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae, but in recent years reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae....
, phlox
Phlox

Phlox is a genus of 67 species of Annual plant or perennial plant flowering plants. Some species flower in early Spring while others flower in summer into fall....
, and busy Lizzie
Busy Lizzie

Impatiens wallerana Joseph Dalton Hooker also known as Busy Lizzy, Balsam or simply Impatiens, is native to eastern Africa from Kenya to Mozambique....
.

Classification

The following families are typical of newer classifications:
  • Family Actinidiaceae
    Actinidiaceae

    Actinidiaceae, or the Chinese Gooseberry family, is a small family of plants. It includes three genus and about 360 species. It is a member of the order Ericales....
     (kiwifruit
    Kiwifruit

    The kiwifruit is the edible berry of a cultivar of the woody plant vine Actinidia deliciosa and Hybrid s between this and other species in the genus Actinidia....
     family)
  • Family Balsaminaceae
    Balsaminaceae

    Balsaminaceae is a family of dicotyledonous plants, comprising two genus and 850+ species, all but one of which belong to the genus Impatiens....
     (balsam
    Impatiens

    Impatiens is a genus of about 850–1,000 species of flowering plants, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and tropics....
     family)
  • Family Clethraceae
    Clethraceae

    Clethraceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia and the Americas, with one species also on Madeira....
     (clethra
    Clethra

    Clethra is a genus of between 30-70 species of flowering shrubs or small trees. It is one of two genera in the family Clethraceae . The species may be evergreen or deciduous, and all bear flowers in clusters or inflorescences....
     family)
  • Family Cyrillaceae
    Cyrillaceae

    Cyrillaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The family comprises two genera, each with a single species, Cyrilla and Cliftonia....
     (cyrilla
    Cyrilla

    Cyrilla racemiflora, the sole species in the genus Cyrilla, is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States , south through the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America to northern Brazil and Colombia in South America....
     family)
  • Family Diapensiaceae
    Diapensiaceae

    Diapensiaceae is a small family of flowering plants, comprising 20 species in seven genera.Genera*Berneuxia Decne.*Diapensia Carolus Linnaeus...
  • Family Ebenaceae
    Ebenaceae

    The Ebenaceae are a family of flowering plants, which includes ebony and persimmon. The family has approximately 500 species of trees and shrubs in two genus, Diospyros and Euclea....
     (ebony
    Ebony

    Ebony is a general name for very dense black wood. In the strict sense it is yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but other heavy, black woods are sometimes also called ebony....
     family)
  • Family Ericaceae
    Ericaceae

    The plant family Ericaceae are mostly calcium oxide-hating plants that thrive in acid soils. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry, blueberry, Erica, Calluna vulgaris, huckleberry, azalea and rhododendron....
     (heath
    Erica

    Erica is a genus of over 700 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....
    , rhododendron
    Rhododendron

    Rhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays....
    , and blueberry
    Vaccinium

    Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry ....
     family)
  • Family Fouquieria
    Fouquieria

    Fouquieria is a genus of 11 species of desert plants, the sole genus in the Family Fouquieriaceae. The genus includes the Ocotillo and the Boojum tree or Cirio ....
    ceae (fouquieria
    Fouquieria

    Fouquieria is a genus of 11 species of desert plants, the sole genus in the Family Fouquieriaceae. The genus includes the Ocotillo and the Boojum tree or Cirio ....
     family)
  • Family Lecythidaceae
    Lecythidaceae

    The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250-300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America and Madagascar.According to the most recent molecular analysis of Lecythidaceae there are three subfamilies:...
     (Brazil nut
    Brazil Nut

    The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed.The Brazil nut tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia....
     family)
  • Family Maesaceae
  • Family Marcgraviaceae
    Marcgraviaceae

    Marcgraviaceae is a neotropical angiosperm family in the order Ericales.The members of the family are shrubs, woody epiphytes and lianas with alternate, pinnately-nerved leaves....
  • Family Mitrastemonaceae
  • Family Myrsinaceae
    Myrsinaceae

    Myrsinaceae, or the Myrsine family, is a rather large family from the order Ericales. It consists of 35 genera and about 1000 species.It is a widespread family belonging to temperate to tropical climates extending north to Europe, Siberia, Japan, Mexico and Florida, and south to New Zealand, South America, and South Africa....
     (cyclamen
    Cyclamen

    Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants, traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae, but in recent years reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae....
     and scarlet pimpernel
    Scarlet pimpernel

    The scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing, annual plant in the family Myrsinaceae, growing in Europe, Asia and North America. The barometer common names have their origin in the fact that the flowers close when atmospheric pressure decreases and bad weather is approaching....
     family)
  • Family Pellicieraceae
  • Family Pentaphyllacaceae
  • Family Polemoniaceae
    Polemoniaceae

    The Polemoniaceae comprises 18-25 genera with between 270-400 species of mostly annual plants, native to the Northern Hemisphere and also South America, with the center of diversity in western North America, especially in California....
     (phlox
    Phlox

    Phlox is a genus of 67 species of Annual plant or perennial plant flowering plants. Some species flower in early Spring while others flower in summer into fall....
     family)
  • Family Primulaceae
    Primulaceae

    Primulaceae is a family of flowering plants with about 24 genus, including some favorite garden plants and wildflowers. It is also known as the primrose family....
     (primrose
    Primula

    Primula is a genus of 400?500 species of low-growing herbs in the family Primulaceae. They include Primula vulgaris, Primula auricula, Primula veris and Primula elatior....
     family)
  • Family Roridula
    Roridula

    Roridula is a South African genus of plants that, whilst having many of the adaptations of a carnivorous plant, such as the possession of insect-trapping sticky hairs, does not directly digest the animals it traps....
    ceae
  • Family Sapotaceae
    Sapotaceae

    Sapotaceae is a family of flowering plants, belonging to order Ericales. The family includes approximately 800 species of evergreen trees and shrubs in approximately 65 genera ....
     (sapodilla
    Sapodilla

    Sapodilla is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. It is grown in huge quantities in India, Mexico and was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonisation....
     family)
  • Family Sarraceniaceae
    Sarraceniaceae

    Sarraceniaceae is a family of pitcher plants , belonging to order Ericales .The family comprises three Extant taxon genera, Sarracenia , Darlingtonia californica , and Heliamphora , as well as the extinct Archaeamphora longicervia....
     (American pitcher plant
    Pitcher plant

    Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with natural selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over evolutionary time....
     family)
  • Family Sladeniaceae
    Sladeniaceae

    Sladeniaceae Airy Shaw is a family of flowering plants containing tree species found in sub-tropical to tropical environments in East Africa, Burma, Yunnan and Thailand....
  • Family Styracaceae
    Styracaceae

    Styracaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing 11 genera and about 160 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
     (silverbell and snowbell family)
  • Family Symplocaceae
    Symplocaceae

    Symplocos is a genus of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing about 250 species native to Asia, Australia and the Americas.Symplocos species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Engrailed....
     (sapphireberry family)
  • Family Ternstroemiaceae (see Pentaphyllacaceae)
  • Family Tetrameristaceae
    Tetrameristaceae

    Tetrameristaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. The family consists of four species, of trees or shrubs, in two genera:...
  • Family Theaceae
    Theaceae

    The Theaceae is a family of flowering plants, composed of shrubs and trees. The Theaceae is part of order Ericales, in the branch of the dicots known as the Asterids....
     (tea
    Tea

    Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
     and camellia
    Camellia

    Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia....
     family)
  • Family Theophrastaceae
    Theophrastaceae

    Theophrastaceae is a small family of flowering plants. In its traditional circumscription, the family consists of five genera and between 90-100 species of trees or shrubs, native to tropical regions of the Americas....


These make up a basal group of asterids. Under the Cronquist system
Cronquist system

A list of systems 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 ....
, the Ericales included a smaller group of plants, which were placed among the Dilleniidae
Dilleniidae

Dillenidae is a botanical name at the rank of Subclass .wiktionary: circumscription of the subclass will vary with the wiktionary:taxonomic system being used; the only requirement being that it includes the family Dilleniaceae....
:
  • Family Ericaceae
    Ericaceae

    The plant family Ericaceae are mostly calcium oxide-hating plants that thrive in acid soils. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry, blueberry, Erica, Calluna vulgaris, huckleberry, azalea and rhododendron....
  • Family Cyrillaceae
    Cyrillaceae

    Cyrillaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The family comprises two genera, each with a single species, Cyrilla and Cliftonia....
  • Family Clethraceae
    Clethraceae

    Clethraceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia and the Americas, with one species also on Madeira....
  • Family Grubbiaceae
    Grubbiaceae

    Grubbiaceae is a family of flowering plants endemic to the Cape floristic region of South Africa. The family includes five species of leathery-leaved shrubs in two genus, Grubbia and Strobilocarpus....
  • Family Empetraceae
  • Family Epacridaceae
  • Family Pyrolaceae
    Pyrolaceae

    Pyrolaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included the four genus Chimaphila, Moneses, Orthilia, and Pyrola, and sometimes also the eight genera formerly usually placed in the family Monotropaceae....
  • Family Monotropaceae
    Monotropaceae

    Monotropaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included the eight genus Allotropa, Hemitomes, Monotropa, Monotropsis, Pityopus, Pleuricospora, Pterospora, Sarcodes....