(Ranales) A subclass of the dicotyledons containing plants in which the flower parts are numerous and often inserted spirally, and the gynoecium is apocarpous. The number of orders recognized varies considerably between classifications. The Magnoliales, including the Magnoliaceae, Annonaceae, and Myristicaceae; the Laurales, including the Monimiaceae and Lauraceae; the Aristolochiales, including the Aristolochiaceae and (sometimes) the Nepenthaceae; and the Nymphaeales, including the Nymphaeaceae (water lilies), are usually all included in the Magnoliidae. The following orders may also be placed in the Magnoliidae or may be allocated to a second subclass, the Ranunculidae: the Illiciales; the Ranunculales, including the Berberidaceae, *
Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), and Menispermaceae (which includes curare); the Papaverales, including the Papaveraceae (poppy family) and Fumariaceae; and the Sarraceniales, including the Sarraceniaceae. Other orders sometimes recognized include the Nelumbonales, which contains one family Nelumbonaceae. However lotus (Nelumbo) is often placed in the Nymphaeaceae or Berberidaceae. The Rafflesiales may also be placed in the Magnoliidae but are sometimes allocated to the Rosidae.
In those classifications that recognize the subclass Ranuncilidae, this is separated from the Magnoliidae on the basis that its members are mostly herbaceous rather than woody plants and generally more advanced than the Magnoliidae. They lack the oil cells common to many members of the Magnoliidae and have tricolpate pollen as compared to the monocolpate pollen of the Magnoliidae. Their stomata usually lack subsidiary cells whereas those of the Magnoliidae often have two subsidiary cells.
