Article
Article
Bromeliales
Article By:
Cronquist, Arthur New York Botanical Garden, New York, New York.
Barkley, Theodore M. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.
Last reviewed:December 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.096500
An order of flowering plants, division Magnoliophyta (Angiospermae) in the subclass Zingiberidae of the class Liliopsida (monocotyledons). It consists of the single family Bromeliaceae, with about 45 genera and 2000 species, occurring chiefly in tropical and subtropical America. They are firm-leaved, terrestrial xerophytes (adapted structurally to live and grow with a limited water supply), or very often epiphytes (living on other plants nonparasitically), with six stamens and regular or somewhat irregular flowers that usually have septal nectaries and an inferior ovary. The order has often been associated with several related ones in a larger order, Farinosae, marked by its starchy endosperm. Spanish moss (Tillandsia) and the cultivated pineapple (Ananas) are familiar members of the Bromeliales and many others attract attention as houseplants. See also: Flower; Liliopsida; Magnoliophyta; Piña; Pineapple; Plant kingdom; Secretory structures (plant)
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