Ranales

For example, non-molecular-based studies have suggested that the monocots are most closely related to the Ranales (Ranunculales, Nymphaeales, Magnoliales, Ceratophyllum et al.) (Hutchinson, 1959), the Nymphaeales (Cronquist, 1981; Takhtajan, 1969, 1980), the Ariflorae (Thorne, 1976), the Dioscoreales (Huber, 1969), early shrubby dicotyledons (Stebbins, 1974), the Dioscoreales and the Magnoliifloreae (Dahlgren and Clifford, 1982), the Melanthiales (Thorne, 1992) and the paleoherbs (Aristolochiales, Nymphaeales, Piperales) (Behnke, 1969, 1971; Loconte and Stevenson, 1991).

This punctual harmony led Huber (1977) to propose a single natural unit for monocotyledons and basic Ranales (in 1982 and 1991 expanded to include Caryophyllales, but see Dahlgren & Bremer, 1985) and to separate them from the main body of dicotyledons.