Proteales

Proteales
Protea cynaroides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl[1]
Families
Nelumbonaceae (lotus) Platanaceae (plane trees) Proteaceae

Proteales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. Such an order has been recognized by almost all taxonomists.

Families

The APG II system, of 2003, also recognizes this order, and places it in the clade eudicots with this circumscription:

• order Proteales

• family Nelumbonaceae
• family Proteaceae [+ family Platanaceae]

with "+ ..." = optionally separate family (that may be split off from the preceding family).

The APG III system of 2009 followed this same approach but favored the narrower circumscription of the three families, firmly recognizing three families in Proteales: Nelumbonaceae, Platanaceae, and Proteaceae.^[1] The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, however, suggests that the addition of Sabiaceae, which was not placed in an order in the eudicots in the APG III system, would be sensible.^[2]

Well-known members of Proteales include the proteas of South Africa, the banksias and macadamias of Australia, the London plane, and the sacred lotus. The origins of the order are clearly ancient, with evidence of diversification in the mid Cretaceous, over 100 million years ago. Of interest are the current family distributions, with the Proteaceae a mostly southern hemisphere family while Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae northern hemisphere.

Classification

This represents a slight change from the APG system, of 1998, which firmly did accept family Platanaceae as separate, using this circumscription of the order:

• order Proteales

• family Nelumbonaceae
• family Platanaceae
• family Proteaceae

Cronquist

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Proteales.

The Cronquist system, of 1981, recognized such an order and placed it in subclass Rosidae in class Magnoliopsida [=dicotyledons]. It used this circumscription:

• order Proteales

• family Elaeagnaceae
• family Proteaceae

Dahlgren and Thorne

The Dahlgren system and Thorne system (1992) recognized such an order and placed it in superorder Proteanae in subclass Magnoliidae [=dicotyledons]. These systems used this circumscription:

• order Proteales

• family Proteaceae

Engler

The Engler system, in its update of 1964, also recognized this order and placed it in subclass Archichlamydeae of class Dicotyledoneae. It used this circumscription:

• order Proteales

• family Proteaceae

Wettstein

The Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, also recognized this order and placed it in the Monochlamydeae in subclass Choripetalae of class Dicotyledones. It used this circumscription:

• order Proteales

• family Proteaceae

References