Geraniales

Geraniales
File:GeraniumPalustre2.JPG
Geranium palustre
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
(unranked):	Eurosids II
Order:	Geraniales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Families (APG III)
Geraniaceae (including Hypseocharitaceae) Melianthaceae (including Francoaceae) Vivianiaceae (including Ledocarpaceae)

Geraniales are a small order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subgroup of eudicots. The largest family in the order is Geraniaceae with over 800 species. In addition, the order includes some small families, contributing together another less than 40 species. Most Geraniales are herbaceous, but there are also shrubs and small trees.

The economic importance of Geraniales is low. Some species of the genus Pelargonium are cultivated for their aromatic oil used in the perfume industry. Some other species, also mostly Geraniaceae, have horticultural or medicinal uses.

Paleobotanic record is missing.

Taxonomy

For a historical account, see Palmer and price (1993)

The family circumscription of the APG III system classification is typical of newer arrangements. In this definition, Hypseocharitaceae is included within Geraniaceae, Francoaceae and Greyiaceae are included within Melianthaceae, and Ledocarpaceae is included within the Vivianiaceae.

Under the Cronquist system, the Geraniales had a different composition, comprising the following families:

• Family Geraniaceae
• Family Oxalidaceae
• Family Limnanthaceae
• Family Tropaeolaceae
• Family Balsaminaceae

The Vivianiaceae and Ledocarpaceae were included within the Geraniaceae, and the Hypseocharitaceae within the Oxalidaceae, which are now treated in the order Oxalidales. The Melianthaceae were placed within the Sapindales, the Greyiaceae and Francoaceae within the Rosales, the latter subsumed within the Saxifragaceae.

Bibliography

• Bakker, F. T. (December 2002). Geraniales (Geranium). In: Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Nature Publishing Group, London. (Available online: DOI | ELS site)
• B. C. J. du Mortier (1829). Analyse des Familles de Plantes : avec l'indication des principaux genres qui s'y rattachent, 42. Imprimerie de J. Casterman, Tournay.
• Robert A. Price and Jeffrey D. Palmer. Phylogenetic Relationships of the Geraniaceae and Geraniales from rbcL Sequence Comparisons. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 80, No. 3 (1993), pp. 661-671