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Eudicots (Tricolpates)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Angiospermae (unranked) Eudicots
Clades
Ranunculales Sabiales Proteales Trochodendrales Buxales Gunnerales Core eudicots: Berberidopsidales Dilleniales Caryophyllales Santalales Saxifragales Vitales Rosids about 16 orders Asterids about 10 orders

Eudicots and Eudicotyledons are terms introduced by Doyle & Hotton (1991) to refer to a group of flowering plants that had been called "tricolpates" or "non-Magnoliid dicots" by previous authors. The term means, literally, "true dicotyledons" as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicotyledons and have typical dicotyledonous characters. The term "eudicots" has been widely adopted to refer to one of the two major clades of angiosperms, monocots being the other. The remaining dicots are sometimes referred to as paleodicots but this term has not been widely adopted as it does not refer to a monophyletic group.

Another name for the eudicots is tricolpates, a name which refers to the structure of the pollen. The group has tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it. These pollen have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the other seed plants (that is the gymnosperms, the monocots and the paleodicots) produce monosulcate pollen, with a single pore set in a differently oriented groove called the sulcus. The name "tricolpates" is preferred by some botanists in order to avoid confusion with the dicots, a non-monophyletic group (Judd & Olmstead 2004).

The name eudicots (plural) is used in the APG system, of 1998, and APG II system, of 2003, for classification of angiosperms. It is applied to a clade, a monophyletic group, which includes most of the (former) dicotyledons.

Subdivision

Within the "eudicots" or "tricolpates" the main groups are the "rosids" (core group with the prefix "eu−") and the "asterids" (core group with the prefix "eu−").

• eudicots :

  core eudicots :

  rosids :

  eurosids I

  eurosids II

  asterids :

  euasterids I

  euasterids II

In more detail, with in each clade some unplaced families and orders (unplaced genera are not mentioned):

• clade eudicots

  family Buxaceae [+ family Didymelaceae]

  family Sabiaceae

  family Trochodendraceae [+ family Tetracentraceae]

  order Ranunculales

  order Proteales

  clade core eudicots

  family Aextoxicaceae

  family Berberidopsidaceae

  family Dilleniaceae

  order Gunnerales

  order Caryophyllales

  order Saxifragales

  order Santalales

  clade rosids

  family Aphloiaceae

  family Geissolomataceae

  family Ixerbaceae

  family Picramniaceae

  family Strassburgeriaceae

  family Vitaceae

  order Crossosomatales

  order Geraniales

  order Myrtales

  clade eurosids I

  family Zygophyllaceae [+ family Krameriaceae]

  family Huaceae

  order Celastrales

  order Malpighiales

  order Oxalidales

  order Fabales

  order Rosales

  order Cucurbitales

  order Fagales

  clade eurosids II

  family Tapisciaceae

  order Brassicales

  order Malvales

  order Sapindales

  clade asterids

  order Cornales

  order Ericales

  clade euasterids I

  family Boraginaceae

  family Icacinaceae

  family Oncothecaceae

  family Vahliaceae

  order Garryales

  order Solanales

  order Gentianales

  order Lamiales

  clade euasterids II

  family Bruniaceae

  family Columelliaceae [+ family Desfontainiaceae]

  family Eremosynaceae

  family Escalloniaceae

  family Paracryphiaceae

  family Polyosmaceae

  family Sphenostemonacae

  family Tribelaceae

  order Aquifoliales

  order Apiales

  order Dipsacales

  order Asterales

Note : “ + ....” = optional, as a segregate of the previous family.

• Doyle, J. A. & Hotton, C. L. Diversification of early angiosperm pollen in a cladistic context. Pp. 169-195 in Pollen and Spores. Patterns of Diversification (eds Blackmore, S. & Barnes, S. H.) (Clarendon, Oxford, 1991).
• Walter S. Judd and Richard G. Olmstead (2004). "A survey of tricolpate (eudicot) phylogenetic relationships". American Journal of Botany 91: 1627-1644.  (full text )
• Eudicots in Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 7, May 2006.
• Core Eudicots, Tree of Life Web Project