An ordinal classification for the families of flowering plants

Recent cladistic analyses are revealing the phylogeny of flowering plants i n increasing detail, and there is support for the monophyly of many major g roups above the family level. With many elements of the major branching seq uence of phylogeny established, a revised suprafamilial classification of f lowering plants becomes both feasible and desirable. Here we present a clas sification of 462 flowering plant families in 40 putatively monophyletic or ders and a small number of monophyletic, informal higher groups. The latter are the monocots, commelinoids, eudicots, core eudicots, rosids including eurosids I and II, and asterids including euasterids I and II. Under these informal groups there are also listed a number of families without assignme nt to order. At the end of the system is an additional list of families of uncertain position for which no firm data exist regarding placement anywher e within the system.