science

Lamiales

Lamiales is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lamiales rather than just read about it. In short: The Lamiales (also known as the mint order) are an order of flowering plants in the asterids clade of the Eudicots. Under the APG IV system of flowering plant classification the order consists of 24 families, and includes about 23,810 species and 1,059 genera with representatives found all over the world.

Key takeaways

Lamiales belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lamiales to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lamiales from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lamiales (also known as the mint order) are an order of flowering plants in the asterids clade of the Eudicots. Under the APG IV system of flowering plant classification the order consists of 24 families, and includes about 23,810 species and 1,059 genera with representatives found all over the world. Well-known or economically important members of this order include aromatic, culinary, and medicinal herbs such as basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender, perilla, lemon verbena, catnip, bee balm, wild dagga, and oriental motherwort, as well as olives, ash trees, teak, foxgloves, lilacs, jasmine, snapdragons, African violets, Jacarandas, Paulownias, butterfly bushes, sesame, and psyllium.

Description Plant species within the order Lamiales are eudicots and are herbaceous or have woody stems. Zygomorphic flowers are common, having five petals with an upper lip of two petals and lower lip of three petals, but actinomorphic flowers are also seen. Species potentially have five stamens, but these are typically reduced to two or four. Lamiales also produce a single style attached to an ovary typically containing two carpels. The ovary is mostly observed to be superior. The inflorescence is typically seen as cyme, raceme or spike. The fruit type is usually dehiscent capsules. Glandular hairs are present on the plants. A number of species of carnivorous plants are found in the families Lentibulariaceae and Byblidaceae. Protocarnivorous plant species have also been found in the order, specifically in the Martyniaceae family. Parasitic plant species are found in the order, belonging to the family Orobanchaceae. These parasitic plants can either be hemi-parasites or holoparasites.

Taxonomy

Phylogeny The APG IV system gives the following cladogram for Lamiales.

The Lamiales previously had a restricted circumscription (e.g., by Arthur Cronquist) that included the major families Lamiaceae (Labiatae), Verbenaceae, and Boraginaceae, plus a few smaller families. In the classification system of Dahlgren the Lamiales were in the superorder Lamiiflorae (also called Lamianae). Recent phylogenetic work has shown the Lamiales are polyphyletic with respect to order Scrophulariales and the two groups are now usually combined in a single order that also includes the former orders Hippuridales and Plantaginales. Lamiales has become the preferred name for this much larger combined group. The placement of the Boraginaceae is unclear, but phylogenetic work shows this family does not belong in Lamiales. Also, the circumscription of family Scrophulariaceae, formerly a paraphyletic group defined primarily by plesiomorphic characters and from within which numerous other families of the Lamiales were derived, has been radically altered to create a number of smaller, better-defined, and putatively monophyletic families.

Dating Much research has been conducted in recent years regarding the dating the Lamiales lineage, although there still remains some ambiguity. A 2004 study, on the molecular phylogenetic dating of asterid flowering plants, estimated 106 million years (MY) for the stem lineage of Lamiales. A similar study in 2009 estimated 80 million years. Another 2009 study gives several reasons why the issue is particularly difficult to solve.

Habitat The Lamiales order can be found in almost all kinds of habitats world-wide. These habitats include forests, valleys, grasslands, rocky terrain, rainforests, the tropics, temperate regions, marshes, coastlines, and even frozen areas.

Uses The order Lamiales has a variety of species with anthropogenic uses, the most popular belonging to the Lamiaceae and Acanthaceae families. Many of these species in the order Lamiales produce medicinal properties from alkaloids and saponins to help a variety of infections and diseases. These alkaloids and saponins may help with digestion, the common cold or flu, asthma, liver infections, pulmonary infections and contain antioxidant properties. Species within the order are also known to have properties to repel insects and help control harmful diseases from insects, such as Malaria from mosquitos. Plants of the family Acanthaceae have bioactive secondary metabolites within their mature leaves, which have been found to be toxic to insect larvae. Botanical derived insecticides are a good alternate for chemical or synthetic insecticides as it is inexpensive, abundant and safe for other plants, non-target organisms and the environment. Many species within the order are used as decorations, flavouring agents, cosmetics and fragrances. Natural dyes can also be extracted from Lamiales species. For example, in Sardinia culture, the most common Lamiales plant species used for natural dyes is Lavandula stoechas, where a light-green dye is extracted from the stem.

References

External links Lamiales A parsimony analysis of the Asteridae sensu lato based on rbcL sequences Disintegration of the Scrophulariaceae Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine (deals with relationships throughout Lamiales) L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com Acanthaceae 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20070630151231/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52e.htm 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20070609093206/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52efam.htm 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20050914001131/http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Relation-Scroph.html https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032641/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/web.dbs/genlist.html 2002-09-06 Media related to Lamiales at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Lamiales at Wikispecies

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lamiales

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lamiales claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lamiales before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lamiales ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lamiales

In research: Lamiales appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lamiales in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lamiales is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Angiosperm orders, Lamiales, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lamiales outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lamiales in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lamiales means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lamiales out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lamiales in simple terms?

Why does Lamiales matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lamiales?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lamiales.