Fagales
The Fagales are an order of flowering plants in the rosid group of dicotyledons, including some of the best-known trees. Well-known members of Fagales include: beeches, chestnuts, oaks, walnut, pecan, hickory, birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, she-oaks, and southern beeches. The order name is derived from genus Fagus.
Systematics
Fagales include the following seven families, according to the APG III system of classification:- Betulaceae – birch family
- Casuarinaceae – she-oak family
- Fagaceae – beech family
- Juglandaceae – walnut family
- Myricaceae – bayberry family
- Nothofagaceae – southern beech family
- Ticodendraceae – ticodendron family
The older Cronquist system only included four families ; this arrangement is followed by, for example, the World Checklist of selected plant families. The other families were split into three different orders, placed among the Hamamelidae. The Casuarinales comprised the single family Casuarinaceae, the Juglandales comprised the Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae, and the Myricales comprised the remaining forms. The change is due to studies suggesting the Myricales, so defined, are paraphyletic to the other two groups.