Zingiberales
Encyclopedia
Zingiberales is an order
of flowering plants. The order has been widely recognised by the taxonomists, at least for the past few decades. This order includes many familiar plants like ginger
, cardamom
, turmeric
, galangal
and myoga
of the Zingiberaceae
or ginger family, and banana
s and plantain
s of the Musaceae
or banana family, along with arrowroot
of the Marantaceae
or arrowroot family.
It is considered that the Zingiberales together with the Commelinales
evolved around 80 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous
.
, of 2009 [unchanged from the APG system
(1998) and the APG II system
(2003)], recognizes this order and assigns it to the clade commelinids
, in the monocots. It is circumscribed as:
The Cronquist system
, also recognised this order consisting of the same eight families, but organized the order in the subclass Zingiberidae
of the class Liliopsida
[=monocotyledons].
Earlier systems, such as the Wettstein system
, last revised in 1935, and the Engler system
, updated in 1964, recognised a similar order (containing the same plants, although divided over fewer families) Scitamineae
.
Order (biology)
In 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 plants. The order has been widely recognised by the taxonomists, at least for the past few decades. This order includes many familiar plants like ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
, cardamom
Cardamom
Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...
, turmeric
Turmeric
Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
, galangal
Galangal
Galangal is a rhizome of plants of the genus Alpinia or Kaempferia in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originated from Indonesia...
and myoga
Myoga
Myōga or myoga ginger is an herbaceous, deciduous, perennial native to Japan and southern part of Korea that is grown for its edible flower buds and flavorful shoots. Flower buds are finely shredded and used in Japanese cuisine as a garnish for miso soup, sunomono and dishes such as roasted...
of the Zingiberaceae
Zingiberaceae
Zingiberaceae, or the Ginger family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising ca. 52 genera and more than 1300 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas.Many species are important...
or ginger family, and banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s and plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
s of the Musaceae
Musaceae
Musaceae is a botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees.The family has been...
or banana family, along with arrowroot
Arrowroot
Arrowroot, or obedience plant , Bermuda arrowroot, araru, ararao, is a large perennial herb found in rainforest habitats...
of the Marantaceae
Marantaceae
The Marantaceae or arrowroot family is a family of flowering plants known for its large starchy rhizomes. It is sometimes called the prayer-plant family...
or arrowroot family.
It is considered that the Zingiberales together with the Commelinales
Commelinales
Commelinales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. It comprises five families: Commelinaceae, Haemodoraceae, Hanguanaceae, Philydraceae, and Pontederiaceae. All the families combined contain over 800 species in about 70 genera; the majority of species are in the Commelinaceae...
evolved around 80 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
.
Classification
The APG III systemAPG III system
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...
, of 2009 [unchanged from the APG system
APG system
The APG system of plant classification is the first, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system, and then in 2009 by a further...
(1998) and the APG II system
APG II system
The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009...
(2003)], recognizes this order and assigns it to the clade commelinids
Commelinids
In plant taxonomy, commelinids is a name used by the APG III system for a clade within the monocots, which in its turn is a clade within the angiosperms. The commelinids are the only clade that the APG has informally named within the monocots...
, in the monocots. It is circumscribed as:
- order Zingiberales
- family Cannaceae
- family CostaceaeCostaceaeCostaceae or the Costus Family is a family of pantropical monocots. They belong to the order Zingiberales, which contains other horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana , bird-of-paradise , and edible ginger...
- family Heliconiaceae
- family LowiaceaeLowiaceaeOrchidantha is a genus of flowering plants, often given its own family, Lowiaceae. It includes the plants in the formerly recognised genera Lowia, Protamomum and Wolfia. Orchidantha remains a poorly known genus, with up to about a dozen species, found from southern China to Borneo...
- family MarantaceaeMarantaceaeThe Marantaceae or arrowroot family is a family of flowering plants known for its large starchy rhizomes. It is sometimes called the prayer-plant family...
- family MusaceaeMusaceaeMusaceae is a botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees.The family has been...
- family StrelitziaceaeStrelitziaceaeStrelitziaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The plants are very similar in appearance and growth habit to members of the related families Heliconiaceae and Musaceae...
- family ZingiberaceaeZingiberaceaeZingiberaceae, or the Ginger family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising ca. 52 genera and more than 1300 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas.Many species are important...
The Cronquist system
Cronquist system
The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It 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 system places flowering plants into two...
, also recognised this order consisting of the same eight families, but organized the order in the subclass Zingiberidae
Zingiberidae
Zingiberidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. Circumscription of the subclass will vary with the taxonomic system being used ; the only requirement being that it includes the family Zingiberaceae....
of the class Liliopsida
Liliopsida
Liliopsida is a botanical name for the class containing the family Liliaceae . It is considered synonymous with the name monocotyledon. Publication of the name is credited to Scopoli : see author citation...
[=monocotyledons].
Earlier systems, such as the Wettstein system
Wettstein system
A system of plant taxonomy, the Wettstein system recognised the following main groups, according to* I. phylum Schizophyta*::: 1. classis Schizophyceae*::: 2. classis Schizomycetes* II. phylum Monadophyta* III. phylum Myxophyta...
, last revised in 1935, and the Engler system
Engler system
One of the prime systems of plant taxonomy, the Engler system was devised by Adolf Engler.According to Engler, Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien the main groups of plants are:* I. divisio Schizophyta* II. divisio Phytosarcodina...
, updated in 1964, recognised a similar order (containing the same plants, although divided over fewer families) Scitamineae
Scitamineae
Scitamineae is a descriptive botanical name. Historically it has been applied to a remarkably stable group of flowering plants:* at the rank of family in the Bentham & Hooker system , placed in order Epigynae in the Monocotyledones...
.