Name

Brassicales Bromhead

Synonyms

* Akaniales
* Batales
* Capparales
* Caricales
* Gyrostemonales
* Limnanthales
* Moringales
* Resedales
* Salvadorales
* Tovariales
* Tropaeolales

The Brassicales are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the eurosids II group of dicotyledons under the APG II system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of glucosinolate (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).[1]

The order typically contains the following families[2]:

* Family Akaniaceae
* Family Bataceae (salt-tolerant shrubs from America and Australasia)
* Family Brassicaceae (mustard and cabbage family) (may include the Cleomaceae)
* Family Capparaceae (caper family, sometimes included in Brassicaceae)
* Family Caricaceae (papaya family)
* Family Gyrostemonaceae
* Family Koeberliniaceae
* Family Limnanthaceae (meadowfoam family)
* Family Moringaceae (thirteen species of trees from Africa and India)
* Family Pentadiplandraceae
* Family Resedaceae (mignonette family)
* Family Salvadoraceae
* Family Setchellanthaceae
* Family Tovariaceae
* Family Tropaeolaceae (nasturtium family)

Under the Cronquist system, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the "Dilleniidae". The only families included were the Brassicaceae and Capparaceae (treated as separate families), the Tovariaceae, Resedaceae, 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 Cleome and related genera, was traditionally included in the Capparaceae but doing so results in a paraphyletic Capparaceae.[1] Therefore, this group is generally now either included in the Brassicaceae or as its own family, Cleomaceae.[3]

Footnotes

1. ^ a b Hall et al. (2002)
2. ^ Haston et al. (2007)
3. ^ e.g. Hall et al. (2004) and the APG II update by Haston et al. (2007)

References

* Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) (2003): An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141(4): 399-436. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x PDF fulltext
* Haston, E.; Richardson, J.E.; Stevens, P.F.; Chase, M.W. & Harris, D.J. (2007): A linear sequence of Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II families. Taxon 56(1): 7-12. HTML abstract
* Hall, J.C.; Sytsma, K.J. & Iltis, H.H. (2002): Phylogeny of Capparaceae and Brassicaceae based on chloroplast sequence data. Am. J. Bot. 89(11): 1826-1842. PDF fulltext
* Hall, J.C.; Iltis, H.H. & Sytsma, K.J. (2004): Molecular phylogenetics of core Brassicales, placement of orphan genera Emblingia, Forchhammeria, Tirania, and character evolution. Systematic Botany 29: 654-669. doi:10.1600/0363644041744491 PDF fulltext