Asparagales - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The order Asparagales has only recently been recognized in classification systems, with the advent of phylogenetics. Older systems based on morphology placed many of the species now included in Asparagales into the lily family (Liliaceae); where other families were recognized, these were generally placed into the old order Liliales: a very large order which was used for almost all monocotyledons with colourful tepals and without starch in their endosperm (the lilioid monocots). The Liliales was difficult to divide into families because morphological characters were not present in patterns that clearly demarcated groups. Thus the Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, did not recognise the Asparagales, and placed many of the plants involved in an order called 'Liliiflorae'. The widely used Cronquist system of 1968-1988 also did not recognise Asparagales, using instead the very broadly defined order Liliales.