Eudicotyledon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous - recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Primula hortensis, an eudicot
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clades (APG IV)
Basal eudicots: Ranunculales Proteales Trochodendrales Buxales Core eudicots: Gunnerales Dilleniales Saxifragales Rosids - 17 orders Berberidopsidales Santalales Caryophyllales Asterids - 17 orders

Arabis pollen has three colpi.

The eudicots, Eudicotidae or eudicotyledons are a clade of flowering plants that had been called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dicots by previous authors. The botanical terms were introduced in 1991 by evolutionary botanist James A. Doyle and paleobotanist Carol L. Hotton to emphasize the later evolutionary divergence of tricolpate dicots from earlier, less specialized, dicots.^[1] The close relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains was initially seen in morphological studies of shared derived characters. These plants have a distinct trait in their pollen grains of exhibiting three colpi or grooves paralleling the polar axis. Later molecular evidence confirmed the genetic basis for the evolutionary relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains and dicotyledonous traits. The term means "true dicotyledons", as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicots and have characteristics of the dicots. The term "eudicots" has subsequently been widely adopted in botany to refer to one of the two largest clades of angiosperms (constituting over 70% of the angiosperm species), monocots being the other. The remaining angiosperms include magnoliids and what are sometimes referred to as basal angiosperms or paleodicots, but these terms have not been widely or consistently adopted, as they do not refer to a monophyletic group.

The other name for the eudicots is tricolpates, a name which refers to the grooved structure of the pollen. Members of the group have tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it. These pollens 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 to avoid confusion with the dicots, a nonmonophyletic group.^[2]

Numerous familiar plants are eudicots, including many common food plants, trees, and ornamentals. Some common and familiar eudicots include members of the sunflower family such as the common dandelion, the forget-me-not, cabbage and other members of its family, apple, buttercup, maple, and macadamia. Most leafy trees of midlatitudes also belong to eudicots, with notable exceptions being magnolias and tulip trees which belong to magnoliids, and Ginkgo biloba, which is not an angiosperm.

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) dicots.

<--! The following is moved from tricolpates which now redirects here -->
"Tricolpate" is a synonym for the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, the "true dicotyledons" (which are distinguished from all other flowering plants by their tricolpate pollen structure). The number of pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate), and other groups having one sulcus.^[3][4]

Pollen apertures are any modification of the wall of the pollen grain. These modifications include thinning, ridges and pores, they serve as an exit for the pollen contents and allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. The elongated apertures/ furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular colpus), which, along with pores, are a chief criterion for identifying the pollen classes.^[5]

Subdivisions[edit]

The eudicots can be divided into two groups: the basal eudicots and the core eudicots.^[6] Basal eudicot is an informal name for a paraphyletic group. The core eudicots are a monophyletic group.^[7] A 2010 study suggested the core eudicots can be divided into two clades, Gunnerales and a clade called "Pentapetalae", comprising all the remaining core eudicots.^[8]

The Pentapetalae can be then divided into three clades:

• Dilleniales


• superrosids consisting of Saxifragales and rosids (the APG IV system includes the Vitales in the rosids)


• superasterids consisting of Santalales, Berberidopsidales, Caryophyllales and asterids
  

This division of the eudicots is shown in the following cladogram:^[9]

The following is a more detailed breakdown according to APG IV, showing within each clade and orders:^[10]

• clade Eudicots
  

  order Ranunculales
  

  
  

  order Proteales
  

  
  

  order Trochodendrales
  

  
  

  order Buxales
  

  
  

  clade Core eudicots
  

  order Gunnerales
  

  
  

  order Dilleniales
  

  
  

  clade Superrosids
  

  order Saxifragales
  

  
  

  clade Rosids
  

  order Vitales
  

  
  

  clade Fabids
  

  order Fabales
  

  
  

  order Rosales
  

  
  

  order Fagales
  

  
  

  order Cucurbitales
  

  
  

  order Oxalidales
  

  
  

  order Malpighiales
  

  
  

  order Celastrales
  

  
  

  order Zygophyllales
  

  
  

  
  

  clade Malvids
  

  order Geraniales
  

  
  

  order Myrtales
  

  
  

  order Crossosomatales
  

  
  

  order Picramniales
  

  
  

  order Malvales
  

  
  

  order Brassicales
  

  
  

  order Huerteales
  

  
  

  order Sapindales
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  clade Superasterids
  

  order Berberidopsidales
  

  
  

  order Santalales
  

  
  

  order Caryophyllales
  

  
  

  clade Asterids
  

  order Cornales
  

  
  

  order Ericales
  

  
  

  clade Campanulids
  

  order Aquifoliales
  

  
  

  order Asterales
  

  
  

  order Escalloniales
  

  
  

  order Bruniales
  

  
  

  order Apiales
  

  
  

  order Dipsacales
  

  
  

  order Paracryphiales
  

  
  

  
  

  clade Lamiids
  

  order Solanales
  

  
  

  order Lamiales
  

  
  

  order Vahliales
  

  
  

  order Gentianales
  

  
  

  order Boraginales
  

  
  

  order Garryales
  

  
  

  order Metteniusales
  

  
  

  order Icacinales
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eudicots.

• 
  Eudicotyledon at the Encyclopedia of Life
  


• 
  Eudicots, Tree of Life Web Project


• 
  Dicots Plant Life Forms