Ericales
Ericales, rhododendron order of flowering plants, containing 22 families, 346 genera, and more than 12,000 species.
The relationships of the order are unclear. Together with Cornales, it is placed as a basal asterid in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV (APG IV) botanical classification system (see angiosperm). The families included in it have previously been placed in several other orders, including the now defunct Theales. The circumscription of the order and its placement in the asterids are something of a surprise, although both are well supported by morphological and molecular data.
Morphologically, the order is rather generalized and unspecialized for the asterids. Most members have at least weakly fused petals and radially symmetric flowers, a superior 3- or 5-locular ovary, and 5 or 10 (sometimes more) stamens that are often borne free of the petals. The fruit is most often a capsule, and the seed coat is usually thin. Iridoids, distinctive chemicals perhaps involved in protection of the plant against herbivores, are scattered through the order.
Molecular studies suggest that there are eight family groupings in Ericales, plus one isolated family (Theaceae). The Ericaceae group contains Ericaceae, Clethraceae, and Cyrillaceae. The Balsaminaceae group contains Balsaminaceae, Marcgraviaceae, and Tetrameristaceae (including Pelliciera). The Polemoniaceae group contains Polemoniaceae and Fouquieriaceae. The Pentaphylacaceae group contains Pentaphylacaceae (including the former Ternstroemiaceae) and Sladeniaceae. The Styracaceae group contains Styracaceae, Symplocaceae, and Diapensiaceae. The Lecythidaceae group includes only Lecythidaceae. The Primulaceae group contains Primulaceae, Sapotaceae, and Ebenaceae. The Sarraceniaceae group contains Sarraceniaceae, Actinidiaceae, and Roridulaceae.
Ericaceae group
The Ericaceae group contains Ericaceae, Clethraceae, and Cyrillaceae, which are characterized by having a hollow style as well as by features of the endosperm, or seed reserve, and stem anatomy.
Ericaceae
Ericaceae, the heath family, is the largest family in Ericales, containing more than a third of all its genera (126) and species (about 4,000), with many new species still being discovered. Members of the family occur mainly in tropical montane, Mediterranean, and temperate to arctic climates. Major genera include Rhododendron (about 1,000 species, including the former genera Azalea, Ledum, Menziesia, and Tsusiophyllum), Erica (almost 800 species), Vaccinium (about 400 species), Gaultheria (235 species, including the former genus Pernettya), Leucopogon (about 230 species), and Cavendishia (155 species).
In Ericaceae the petals are usually fused, and the corolla is often urn-shaped or tubular; the 10 stamens often release their pollen by pores or short slits, and they sometimes have appendages on the anthers or the tops of the filaments. The pollen is often in groups of four grains, or tetrads. The ovary is usually divided into five parts.
Ericaceae prefer acidic habitats, well-lit conditions, and a temperate climate. Most of the family live in close association with fungi, which inhabit the roots. However, the fungal hyphae do not penetrate the cells. In fact, the fungi facilitate the plants’ uptake of nutrients, especially nitrogen, an element often in short supply in the acidic habitats that the family favours. The overall result is that Ericaceae, although a large family, has a rather distinct ecology. Some species, such as Monotropa (Indian pipe), lack chlorophyll and completely depend on their fungi for nutrients. These fungi are also associated with trees, and nutrients move from the trees to the ericaceous plant via the fungi. Different species of fungi are associated with different achlorophyllous Ericaceae, a much closer association than elsewhere in the family.
Many Ericaceae have xeromorphic leaves, which apparently evolved for life under conditions of limited water (or nutrient) availability. Erica in particular have leaves that are small and narrow, with a channel on the lower surface, while other genera have leaves that are thick and hard, with close parallel venation. Both groups are abundant in Mediterranean climates, and many species have starch-rich tubers or burls and resprout after fire. Many of the genera related to Vaccinium are lianas or epiphytes (which grow on other plants) in the montane tropics. Their leaves are often thick, and the base of the stem can be very swollen.
Ericaceae often have large and conspicuous flowers, and a variety of relationships with pollinators have been demonstrated. Rhododendron and some of its relatives have viscin threads, very fine structures that hold the pollen tetrads together in clumps. Large insects, and in the tropics birds and perhaps bats, are the main pollinators by dislocating strands of threads in which the pollen tetrads are entangled. Erica and its relatives have smaller flowers, but, even so, birds and a variety of insects (including flies in South Africa) are pollinators; some species of Erica are pollinated by wind, as are Empetrum (crowberry) and its relatives. Many of the large-flowered Vaccinium relatives are pollinated by birds. Less-common forms of pollination include buzz pollination (bees dislodge pollen by bugging), as in some species of Vaccinium, including Vaccinium oxycoccus (cranberry). Most species of Kalmia have the anthers held under tension, being released only when the pollinator lands, so pollination here is explosive.
Ericaceae with capsular fruits have wind-dispersed seeds, and wings or tails of various sorts on the seed may aid in this process. Fleshy-fruited Ericaceae are dispersed mostly by birds, sometimes by mammals, with the hard seeds being excreted by the animal. Most species of Gaultheria combine the two methods of dispersal, having a dry capsular fruit surrounded by succulent and brightly coloured sepals. Some Vaccinium relatives have seeds with a mucilaginous covering, and they may be dispersed more like mistletoe. These species also have green embryos and are either epiphytic or epilithic (growing on rocks).
In summary, there are perhaps four lines of ecological specialization in Ericaceae, which are to a remarkable extent mutually exclusive. About 1,300 species have xeromorphic leaves, about 1,500 species have fleshy fruits, about 900 species have pollen with viscin threads, and about 400 species are either epiphytic or epilithic.
Ericaceae are much valued in horticulture, especially in temperate regions, for their showy flowers. However, a number of species of Vaccinium, in particular, are cultivated for their fruits. A few (e.g., Rhododendron ponticum) are locally seriously invasive.
Clethraceae
Clethraceae contains two genera. Clethra, with 65 species, grows from East Asia to Malesia, in the southeastern United States, and from Mexico southward along the Andes; a single species grows on the Atlantic island of Madeira. All are woody deciduous to evergreen plants with spiral, often toothed leaves that tend to be clustered at the ends of branches. They have racemose inflorescences at the ends of the branchlets and rather small flowers. These flowers have only basally fused (or free) sepals and petals and 10 late-inverting stamens with distinctive arrow-shaped anthers that open by pores. The fruit has three compartments. Purdiea includes about 12 species native to the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Its flowers are considerably larger and more showy than those of Clethra.
Cyrillaceae
Cyrillaceae is a small family of two genera of trees or shrubs that grow in the Caribbean region, from the southeastern United States to northern South America and the West Indies. Cyrillaceae have spirally arranged toothless leaves with short petioles, long-racemose inflorescences, and rather small flowers. The flowers appear to have separate petals, the anthers are arrow-shaped, the stigma is often three-lobed, and the fruit has three compartments. The number of species in Cyrilla has been disputed; some botanists recognize a single widespread and variable C. racemiflora. The genus Cliftonia is also monotypic.