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The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. The order is represented with many various life forms, starting from trees and bushes, to lianas and herbaceous plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, the Ericales include chlorophyll-deficient mycotrophic plants (e. g. Sarcodes sanguinea) and carnivorous plants (e. g. genus Sarracenia).
Many species have five petals, often grown together.
Mycorrhiza 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 aluminium (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).
1 Economical importance
Doubtlessly, the most important plant in the order is the tea (Camellia sinensis) from the Theaceae family. The order also includes some edible fruits, namely kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa), persimmonDiospyros virginiana The persimmons are a genus Diospyros of about 450 500 species of deciduous and evergreen trees. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. The Kaki Persimmon Diospyros kaki is th (genus Diospyros) and some tropical fruits. Many Ericales species are cultivated for their showy flowers.
2 Classification
The following families are typical of newer classifications:
- Family ActinidiaceaeActinidia Clematoclethra Saurauia Ref: 2002-08-04 Actiniaceae is a small family of plants. It includes three or four genera and about 285 species. Most are subtropical woody vines. The genus Actinidia includes the edible kiwifruit. Plant families. ( kiwifruitAbout 94; see text. The kiwifruit is the fruit of a large woody vine of the genus Actinidia (order Ericales family Actinidiaceae that grows in temperate climates. It is marketed worldwide as kiwifruit but is more commonly called kiwi in North America. family)
- Family Balsaminaceae ( balsamBalsam is a term used for various pleasantly scented plant products. They may be obtained from: Balsam (flower) Impatiens Balsam fir Abies balsamea Balsam poplars Populus spp. family)
- Family Clethraceae ( clethra family)
- Family Cyrillaceae ( cyrilla family)
- Family Diapensiaceae
- Family EbenaceaeThe Ebenaceae are a family of dicotyledons, including plants like ebony and persimmon. ( ebonyEbony : Plantae : Magnoliophyta : Magnoliopsida : Ebenales : Ebenaceae : Diospyros Species D. ebenum Indian and Ceylon Ebony D. melanoxylon Coromandel Ebony D. montana ''D. quaesita ''D. dendo Black Ebony Ebony is a fine grained timber of several species family)
- Family EricaceaeSee text The plant Family Ericaceae Heath Family or ericaceous plants are mostly lime-hating or calcifuge plants that thrive in acid soils. The Family Ericaceae includes numerous plants from mostly temperate climates: cranberry, blueberry, heath, heather, ( heathOver 700 species, including: Erica arborea ''Erica caffra ''Erica carnea ''Erica ciliaris ''Erica cinerea ''Erica erigena ''Erica mackaiana ''Erica scoparia ''Erica tetralix ''Erica vagans Heath is the common name for plants of the genus Erica which are m family)
- Family Fouquieriaceae ( fouquieria family)
- Family Lecythidaceae ( brazil nut family)
- Family Maesaceae
- Family Marcgraviaceae
- Family Mitrastemonaceae
- Family Myrsinaceae
- Family Pellicieraceae
- Family Pentaphylacaceae
- Family Polemoniaceae ( phlox family)
- Family Primulaceae ( primrose family)
- Family Roridulaceae
- Family Sapotaceae ( sapodilla family)
- Family Sarraceniaceae ( pitcher plant family)
- Family Sladeniaceae
- Family Styracaceae
- Family Symplocaceae
- Family Ternstroemiaceae
- Family Tetrameristaceae
- Family Theaceae ( tea family)
- Family Theophrastaceae
These make up a basal group of asterid s. Under the older Cronquist system, the Ericales included a smaller group of plants, which were placed among the Dileniidae :
- Family Ericaceae
- Family Cyrillaceae
- Family Clethraceae
- Family Grubbiaceae
- Family Empetraceae
- Family Epacridaceae
- Family Pyrolaceae
- Family Monotropaceae
