Flowering Plant Family Recognition

Biology 211: Taxonomy of Flowering Plants

A TOUR OF REQUIRED FLOWERING PLANT FAMILIES

Raymond B. Phillips
rbphilli@Colby.edu
Copyright © Ray Phillips 1995

Students in Biology 211 learn to recognize on sight the family membership of specimens representing 60 flowering plant families. To assist in the process of learning the patterns that characterize these families, this set of pages with photographs of representatives and family descriptions has been prepared. Clicking on a picture will download a larger version for easier examination. The required families are grouped by Class and Subclass according to Cronquist's system of classification.

Click on a subclass or family name in the following table.
Class Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)
Subclass Magnoliidae
1.Magnoliaceae 2.Nymphaeaceae 3.Ranunculaceae 4.Papaveraceae
Subclass Hamamelidae
5.Ulmaceae 6.Fagaceae 7.Betulaceae
Subclass Caryophyllidae
8.Cactaceae 9.Chenopodiaceae 10.Caryophyllaceae 11.Polygonaceae
Subclass Dilleniidae
12.Tiliaceae 13.Malvaceae 14.Sarraceniaceae 15.Droseraceae
16.Violaceae 17.Cucurbitaceae 18.Salicaceae 19.Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)
20.Ericaceae
Subclass Rosidae
21.Crassulaceae 22.Saxifragaceae 23.Rosaceae 24.Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
25.Onagraceae 26.Viscaceae 27.Euphorbiaceae 28.Aceraceae
29.Anacardiaceae 30.Oxalidaceae 31.Geraniaceae 32.Balsaminaceae
33.Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
Subclass Asteridae
34.Gentianaceae 35.Asclepiadaceae 36.Solanaceae 37.Convolvulaceae
38.Cuscutaceae 39.Lamiaceae (Labiatae) 40.Plantaginaceae 41.Oleaceae
42.Scrophulariaceae 43.Campanulaceae 44.Rubiaceae 45.Caprifolicaeae
46.Asteraceae (Compositae)
Class Liliopsida (Monocotyledons)
Subclass Alismatidae
47.Alismataceae
Subclass Arecidae
48.Arecaceae (Palmae) 49.Araceae 50.Lemnaceae
Subclass Commelinidae
51.Commelinaceae 52.Juncaceae 53.Cyperaceae 54.Poaceae (Gramineae)
55.Sparganiaceae 56.Typhaceae
Subclass Zingiberidae
57.Bromeliaceae
Subclass Liliidae
58.Liliaceae 59.Iridaceae 60.Orchidaceae

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