The classification and geography of the flowering plants: Dicotyledons of the class Angiospermae (Subclasses Magnoliidae, Ranunculidae, Caryophyllidae, Dilleniidae, Rosidae, Asteridae, and Lamiidae)

Abstract

This latest revision of my classification and geography of the Dicotyledons replaces my 1992 (Bot. Rev. [Lancaster] 58(3): 225-348) review and is necessitated by the plethora of new information that has become available about the classification of the Angiospermae, especially in the currently popular approaches of cladistic, particulate, and molecular taxonomy. This review attempts to bring up-to-date our knowledge of the dicotyledons, with emphasis on new information published in the last decade. Nearly 600 such recent books, monographs, and other botanical articles are cited in the introduction, listed primarily by the botanical discipline they represent, and in the explanation of the classification. More than 2,000 additional works are listed in the "Literature Cited" section. The numerous changes in the classification created by this new information are listed by subclass and superorder, with pertinent references. A new phylogenetic "shrub" replaces earlier versions and attempts to indicate visually relative sizes and relationships among the superorders, orders, and suborders, with all of these divided into 10 subclasses. One table includes a statistical summary of all known and generally accepted flowering-plant taxa: approximately 257,400 species in 13,678 genera, 389 subfamilies in 490 families, and 756 subfamilies and undivided families in 10 subclasses, 31 superorders, 73 orders, and 64 suborders of Angiospermae. Figures for the dicotyledons are 199,500 species in 10,900 genera, 307 subfamilies in 376 families, and 586 subfamilies and undivided families in 7 subclasses, 22 superorders, 49 orders, and 48 suborders. Three other tables summarize the known indigenous distribution of the families and subfamilies of dicotyledons around the world (the monocotyledons are treated elsewhere). The synopsis lists the dicotyledonous taxa from the subclass down to the subfamily (and in Asteraceae down to the tribe), with indications of the degree of confidence I place in the circumscription and placement of each category above the subfamily, the best available estimates of the number of genera and species for each category, and the known indigenous distribution of each subfamily and family. Table V lists the geographical abbreviations used in the synopsis. The extensive bibliography of pertinent literature on which I have based my decisions should be helpful to persons interested in the classification of the dicotyledons.