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The Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families are those recognized in the APG III system. [1] This is typical of the newer classifications, though there is some slight variation and in particular, the Torriceliaceae may also be divided. [2]
- Tracheophytes
- Apiales, Nakai
- Overview
- Apiaceae
- Araliaceae
- Pittosporaceae
- Other families
Apiales, carrot order of flowering plants, containing some 5,489 species. There are seven families in the order, the three largest of which are Apiaceae (carrot, or parsley, family), Araliaceae (ginseng family), and Pittosporaceae. Apiales belongs to the core asterid clade (organisms with a single common ancestor), or sympetalous lineage of floweri...
Apiaceae, commonly known as the carrot, or parsley, family, contains about 434 genera and nearly 3,780 species. The family is distributed worldwide, though most species are concentrated in the north temperate zone. Apiaceae includes a broad array of important foods, herbs, and spices, as well as some poisonous species. Most members are aromatic herbs with alternate compound or cleft leaves that are sheathed at the base. The flowers are often arranged in a conspicuous umbel (a flat-topped cluster of flowers). Each small flower is usually bisexual, with five small sepals, five generally clawed petals, an enlarged disk at the base of the style, and an inferior ovary with two carpels. The fruits are ridged and composed of two parts that split open at maturity. Among the species cultivated for food or spice are Anethum graveolens (dill), Apium graveolens (celery), Carum carvi (caraway), Coriandrum sativum (coriander, or cilantro), Cuminum cyminum (cumin), Daucus carota (carrot), Foeniculum vulgare (fennel), Pastinaca sativa (parsnip), Petroselinum crispum (parsley), and Pimpinella anisum (anise). Other members are poisonous, including Cicuta maculata (water hemlock) and Conium maculatum (poison hemlock).
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Araliaceae, the ginseng family, contains 43 genera and about 1,450 species. The family is mostly native to tropical regions, with species concentrated in Southeast Asia and tropical North and South America, but important members native to temperate regions include Panax (ginseng), Hedera (ivy), and Aralia (spikenard). Most members of the family are shrubs or trees, though there are a number of climbers and a few herbs. The family has large, usually alternate, compound leaves, five-parted flowers arranged in compound umbels, and fruits that are generally fleshy (berries or drupes). Some genera, such as the herbaceous Hydrocotyle (pennywort), were traditionally included in Apiaceae but are placed in Araliaceae under the APG III system.
Several members of Araliaceae are economically important. Ivies are grown as ornamental plants and houseplants. Tetrapanax papyriferum (rice-paper plant) is the source of rice paper, and the wood of several species, especially that of Dendropanax arboreum, provides timber. Schefflera (1,600 species) is the largest genus in the family and includes tropical ornamental and potted plant species such as S. actinophylla (umbrella tree, or octopus plant) and S. elegantissima (false aralia). Polyscias is also a widely cultivated tropical tree, with many variegated forms.
Pittosporaceae has six to nine genera and 200 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas native to tropical and warm temperate areas of the Old World, especially Australia. The largest genus is Pittosporum, with 140 species; some produce timber, but many are cultivated in warm climates as potted plants or street trees, such as P. tobira. Flowers of Pittosporaceae have a basally tubular corolla and well-developed sepals. The ovary is superior, with many ovules per carpel. This family is characterized by aromatic odours caused by triterpenoid ethereal oils, with some species featuring specialized chemical compounds such as coumarins, polyacetylenes, or arthroquinones.
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The four smaller families in Apiales are Pennantiaceae, Griseliniaceae, Torricelliaceae, and Myodocarpaceae, which are woody species with separate male and female plants; their flowers are clustered at the ends of branches, and their fruits are single-seeded. Pennantia is the only genus in Pennantiaceae, with four species native to northeastern Aus...
Apiaceae, the parsley family, in the order Apiales, comprising about 434 genera and nearly 3,780 species of plants distributed throughout a wide variety of habitats, principally in the north temperate regions of the world. A number of species are economically important as leaf and root vegetables, herbs and spices, and garden ornamentals.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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The Apiales is a group of about 3500 to 4000 species of asterids, a large subgroup of the flowering plants. The order Apiales falls into two large groups and one smaller one. The majority of the Apiales belong either to the Araliaceae (ginseng family) or to the Apiaceae (carrot family), also known as Umbelliferae.
Apiaceae, also known as the carrot, celery or parsley family, is a large and diverse family of flowering plants. It includes over 3,700 species distributed worldwide, most of which are herbaceous annual or perennial plants, although some are woody shrubs or trees.
Apiaceae ( / eɪpiːˈeɪsiˌaɪ, - siːˌiː /) or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers.
Araliaceae, the ginseng family of flowering plants, in the order Apiales, comprising approximately 700 species centred in Southeast Asia and tropical America. Most members are shrubs or trees, though there are a number of climbers and a few herbs. The family has large, usually alternate, compound.
