Fagales
Order of wind-pollinated trees including oaks, beeches, and walnuts.
The order Fagales groups together flowering plants from the rosid branch of dicotyledons, and it includes many well-known trees. Familiar members are beeches, chestnuts, oaks, walnut, pecan, hickory, birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, she-oaks, and southern beeches. The order takes its name from the genus *Fagus*, the beeches.
Seven families are recognized under the APG III system: Betulaceae (birch family, with genera such as *Alnus*, *Betula*, *Carpinus*, *Corylus*, *Ostrya*, and *Ostryopsis*); Casuarinaceae (she-oak family, including *Allocasuarina*, *Casuarina*, *Ceuthostoma*, and *Gymnostoma*); Fagaceae (beech family, with *Castanea*, *Castanopsis*, *Chrysolepis*, *Fagus*, *Lithocarpus*, *Notholithocarpus*, *Quercus*, and *Trigonobalanus*); Juglandaceae (walnut family, including *Alfaroa*, *Carya*, *Cyclocarya*, *Engelhardia*, *Juglans*, *Oreomunnea*, *Platycarya*, *Pterocarya*, and *Rhoiptelea*); Myricaceae (bayberry family, with *Canacomyrica*, *Comptonia*, and *Myrica*); Nothofagaceae (southern beech family, only *Nothofagus*); and Ticodendraceae (ticodendron family, only *Ticodendron*). Modern molecular phylogenetics has clarified the relationships among these groups.
In the older Cronquist system, only four families were included: Betulaceae, Corylaceae, Fagaceae, and Ticodendraceae (with Corylaceae now placed inside Betulaceae). This arrangement is still followed by, for example, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The other families were split into three separate orders within the Hamamelidae: Casuarinales (just Casuarinaceae), Juglandales (Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae), and Myricales (the remaining forms, plus *Balanops*). The change came from studies showing that the Myricales, as defined then, were paraphyletic to the other two groups.
Most Fagales are wind-pollinated and monoecious, with unisexual flowers.
The oldest known member of the order is the flower *Soepadmoa cupulata*, preserved in late Turonian–Coniacian New Jersey amber. It is a mosaic, showing traits of both *Nothofagus* and other Fagales, which suggests that the ancestor of all Fagales was *Nothofagus*-like.
- classification
- Order of flowering plants in the rosid group of dicotyledons
- families_apg_iii
- 7 families: Betulaceae, Casuarinaceae, Fagaceae, Juglandaceae, Myricaceae, Nothofagaceae, Ticodendraceae
- older_cronquist_families
- 4 families: Betulaceae, Corylaceae, Fagaceae, Ticodendraceae
- pollination
- Most are wind pollinated
- flower_type
- Monoecious with unisexual flowers
- oldest_fossil
- Soepadmoa cupulata from late Turonian-Coniacian New Jersey amber
Lore & Background
The Fagales order includes seven families according to the APG III system: Betulaceae (birch family), Casuarinaceae (she-oak family), Fagaceae (beech family), Juglandaceae (walnut family), Myricaceae (bayberry family), Nothofagaceae (southern beech family), and Ticodendraceae (ticodendron family). The older Cronquist system recognized only four families, with Corylaceae now included within Betulaceae; the other families were placed in three separate orders among the Hamamelidae. This change resulted from studies suggesting that the Myricales, as previously defined, are paraphyletic to the other groups.
Reader's Guide
Fagales are significant as an order of flowering plants that includes many of the world's most familiar and ecologically important trees, such as oaks, beeches, chestnuts, walnuts, and birches. Their economic and cultural importance is considerable, providing timber, nuts, and ornamental species. The order's classification has been revised by modern molecular phylogenetics, which clarified relationships among its families. The oldest known member of the order is the flower Soepadmoa cupulata from late Turonian-Coniacian New Jersey amber, which exhibits a mosaic of characteristics from both Nothofagus and other Fagales, suggesting that the ancestor of all Fagales was Nothofagus-like. Most Fagales are wind pollinated and monoecious with unisexual flowers, adaptations that have contributed to their widespread distribution in temperate and subtropical regions.
Did You Know?
- The order name Fagales is derived from the genus Fagus (beeches).
- The oldest member of the order is the flower Soepadmoa cupulata from late Turonian-Coniacian New Jersey amber.
- Most Fagales are wind pollinated and monoecious with unisexual flowers.
- The older Cronquist system placed families now in Fagales into three separate orders: Casuarinales, Juglandales, and Myricales.
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