Monocotyledons

Peter F Stevens, University of Missouri, St. Louis and Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, USA

Published online: February 2003

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003683

The uses, ecology, fossil history and distribution of the monocots is summarized. The phylogeny of monocots is outlined, emphasizing the importance of the herbaceous habit in particular, but also 3-merous flowers, septal nectaries etc., for their diversification.

Keywords: angiosperms; diversification; herbs; secondary thickening; 3-merous; nectaries; unlignified wall fluorescence; grasses; palms; gingers; lilies

 Further Reading
    book Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2002) "An ordinal classification for the families of flowering plants". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, accepted.
    book Arber A (1925) Monocotyledons. A Morphological Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: [Old, but a classic.]
    book Dahlren RMT, Clifford HT and Yeo PF (1985) The Families of the Monocotyledons. Structure, Evolution and Taxonomy. Berlin: Springer.
    book Gould FW and Shaw RB (1983) Grass Systematics, 2nd edn. College Station: Texas A & M University Press. [More popular.]
    book Jacobs SWL and Everett J (2000) Grasses: Systematics and Evolution. Collingwood: CSIRO.
    book Kubitzki K (1998) The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol. III: Flowering Plants. Monocotyledons. Alismatanae and Commelinanae (except Gramineae). Berlin: Springer.
    book Kubitzki K (1998) The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol. IV: Flowering Plants, Monocotyledons. Lilianae (except Orchidaceae). Berlin: Springer.
    book Purseglove JW (1972) Tropical Crops. Monocotyledons. 2 vols. London: Longman.
    book Rudall PJ, Cribb PJ, Cutler DF and Humphries CJ (1995) Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. 2 vols. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens.
    book Stevens PF (2001) Angiosperm phylogeny. [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb]
    book Watson L and Dallwitz MJ (1992) The Grass Genera of the World. Wallingford, Oxford: CAB International. [http://www.biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/grass]
    book Wilson KL and Morrison DA (eds) (2000) Monocots: Systematics and Evolution. Collingwood: CSIRO.

Related Sub-Topics:

Plant Development | Diversification of Plants and Animals | Classification | Fossils and Evolution | Evolutionary Ecology | Biogeography and Macroecology | Plant Evolution | Plant Ecology
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Article Title: Monocotyledons
 
How to Cite close
Stevens, Peter F(Feb 2003) Monocotyledons. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003683]