A subclass of the monocotyledons containing mainly herbaceous plants, most of which have bisexual flowers with a more or less reduced perianth. It contains the following orders: Commelinales, which comprises four families including the Commelinaceae (spiderwort family); Eriocaulales; Restionales; Poales, which includes the one family * Gramineae or Poaceae; Jun-cales, which consists of two families including the Juncaceae (rushes); Cyperales, made up of the one family * Cyperaceae (reeds and sedges); Bromeliales, including the one family Bromeliaceae (bromeliads), which contains the pineapple (Ananas comosus); and the Zingiberales, which includes the families Musaceae (banana family), Strelitziaceae (containing bird of paradise flowers, Strelitzia), and Zingiberaceae (containing various aromatic plants, e.g. ginger, Zingiber officinale). The Zingiberales is sometimes placed in the Liliidae. In some classifications the Typhales is included in the Commelinidae, while in others it is placed in the * Arecidae. |
