Nymphaeales
From Freepedia
| Nymphaeales | ||||||||
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| Image:NympheaColorataPeterAfrica.JPG Nymphea colorata | ||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||
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| Families | ||||||||
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Cabombaceae - fanworts |
The Nymphaeales are an order of flowering plants, including two families of aquatic herbs:
- Family Nymphaeaceae (water lily family; including Barclayaceae)
- Family Cabombaceae (fanwort family)
Sometimes the Cabombaceae are included within the Nymphaeaceae, though they are very distinct in appearance, with finely divided, entirely submerged leaves, unlike the broadly circular floating leaves of Nymphaeaceae.
The Nymphaeales, taken in the modern sense from the genetic studies of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, appear to have diverged from the other flowers very early on, representing a basal clade offshoot of the flowering plants.
The older Cronquist system also included two other familes; the Nelumbonaceae, now treated in the order Proteales, and the Ceratophyllaceae, now treated in the order Ceratophyllales.
