Ranunculales, редът на цъфтящите растения, съдържащ 7 семейства, близо 164 рода и около 2830 вида. Членовете на ордена варират от едногодишни и многогодишни билки до тревисти или дървесни лози, храсти и в няколко случая дървета. Те включват много декоративни растения, които се отглеждат в градини по целия свят. Обикновено присъстват различни алкалоиди, някои доста вредни за хората или добитъка. Семействата от реда са Berberidaceae, Circaeasteraceae, Eupteleaceae, Lardizabalaceae, Menispermaceae, Papaveraceae и Ranunculaceae.
Наред с Buxales, Proteales, Trochodendrales и Sabiaceae, Ranunculales е част от група семейства и ордени, известни като периферните евдикоти. Една от основните характеристики, които отличават тези семейства и други евдикоти от монокотиледоните (видове с един ембрионален лист в семето им) и базалните покритосеменни растения е прашецът, който обикновено има три отвора (колпи), вместо един. Липсват и етерични масла, които характеризират много нареждания сред базалните цъфтящи растения. При Ranunculales венчелистчетата изглежда са се развили от тичинки (стерилни тичинки), а не от прицветници (флорални листа), а килимите не са слети в повечето членове на ордена.
Ranunculaceae, или семейството на пеперудите, е най-голямото семейство от порядъка, с 52 рода и около 1500 вида. Повечето видове от семейството са билки, някои са водни, а няколко са ниски храсти или лози (клематиси). Много добре познати диви и култивирани цветя в умерената зона принадлежат към тази група. Ранункулус (диви пеперуди) със своите яркожълти цветчета са широко разпространени; Калта (блатни невенчета, известни още като краведорасли в Съединените щати и като кралици в Англия) растат на влажни места от двете страни на Атлантическия океан; и Aquilegia (колумбините) са сред най-красивите диви цветя на Северна Америка.
The Anemone genus includes wild anemones native to the North Temperate Zone as well as cultivated varieties. Delphinium (larkspurs) includes annuals and perennials cultivated for their strikingly showy flowers. Helleborus (hellebores) include H. niger (the Christmas rose), a southern European native planted in northern gardens for its midwinter blooms. Clematis has more than 300 species in temperate regions, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, and in tropical mountains of Africa. Aconitum (monkshood) is a genus of about 100 hardy perennials of northern mountains; the species are also called wolfsbane because of their toxicity. In particular, Aconitum ferox contains one of the deadliest poisons known. Thalictrum (meadow rue) is another widely recognizable genus with 330 species in northern temperate regions, tropical America, tropical Africa, and South Africa.
Berberidaceae, the barberry family, with 575 species in 4 genera, includes herbs and shrubs that grow in most temperate parts of the world. Berberis, the barberry genus, is the family’s largest genus, with about 400 species and a distribution that covers nearly the entire range of the family. Many cultivated barberry shrubs are handsome, spiny evergreens, with yellow flowers followed by red berries. Mahonia, a thornless shrub genus, consists of about 100 species found from the Himalayas to Japan and Sumatra and in North and Central America. Epimedium is a much cultivated genus of 55 species, native to Europe, the Mediterranean, and Asia. Podophyllum (May apples) consists of forest herbs with parasol-like leaves that are native to the eastern United States and the Himalayan region.
Menispermaceae, or the moonseed family, contains nearly 75 genera and 520 species, most of which are woody climbers in tropical forests, although some genera extend into temperate regions in North America and Japan. Menispermum canadense (Canada moonseed) and other members of the family have characteristic half-moon-shaped seeds. The most important product from Menispermaceae is curare (tubocurarine chloride), which is obtained mostly from Chondrodendron tomentosum, a plant native to Brazil and Peru. The drug is used as a muscle relaxant during surgery.
Lardizabalaceae includes woody vines with separate male and female flowers, such as the cultivated Akebia (chocolate vine). The leaves are compound (made up of leaflets), and the small flowers are in drooping bunches. The family includes 35 species in 8 genera, mostly restricted to China and Japan. However, the genus Lardizabala occurs in central Chile.
Eupteleaceae has only one genus (Euptelea) with two species of deciduous trees native to temperate Southeast Asia. It has strongly toothed leaves and small, wind-pollinated flowers that lack petals or sepals and have separate carpels that develop into disc-shaped winged fruits.
Circaeasteraceae contains one genus with a single species native to China, Nepal, and Buhtan. Circaeaster agrestis is a small herb with dichotomously veined leaves and small flowers with separate carpels.
Papaveraceae, or the poppy family, comprises 200 species in 23 genera (including the former families Fumariaceae and Pteridophyllaceae). Papaveraceae is mostly herbaceous (nonwoody) and is distributed worldwide, primarily in temperate regions. Brightly coloured latex is very characteristic of the family, and often includes powerful alkaloids. Flowers usually have two sepals and four or six petals; they are regular (radially symmetrical) in Papaver (the poppy genus) but are irregular and spurred or form unusual-looking pouches in Corydalis and Dicentra (bleeding heart). Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) is the source of opium and its derivatives: morphine, heroin, and codeine. Poppy fruits are capsules that spill out tiny seeds like pepper shakers; the seeds are often used as a condiment in cakes and pastries. Other ornamentals include Eschscholzia (California poppy) and Sanguinaria (bloodroot).
