Pinales

(approximate number of species in parentheses) The order Pinales in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, comprises all the extant conifers.All of the extant conifers, such as Araucaria, cedar, celery-pine, cypress, fir, juniper, kauri, larch, pine, redwood, spruce, and yew, are included here.[17] In the latter, Cronquist divided Gymnospermae into two divisions; Benson,(1957)[16] who introduced the term Pinales, divided gymnosperms into four classes;[9] In a later revision, in collaboration with two other taxonomists (1966), Cronquist merged all the gymnosperms into a single division, Pinophyta, with three subdivisions reflecting the main lineages;[18][9] In the era of molecular phylogenetics, De-Zhi and colleagues (2004) once again proposed a division of 12 gymnosperm families into two classes;[9] With the development of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group came a major realignment of the linear classification of the land plants, by Chase and Reveal (2009).[29] Christenhusz and colleagues extended the system of Chase and Reveal[19] to provide a revised classification of gymnosperms in 2011, based on the above four subclades.[2] In this scheme, the Pinidae comprise three orders, including Pinales, and 6 families; However, the exact phylogeny remained a topic that was 'hotly debated", in particular whether the main lineages were best represented by the four subclasses of Christenhusz and colleagues or the more traditional five clades (cycads, ginkgos, cupressophytes, Pinaceae and gnetophytes).[31] Cycadidae (Cycadales) Ginkgoidae (Ginkgoales) Pinidae (Pinales) Gnetidae Sciadopityaceae Araucariaceae Podocarpaceae Taxaceae (including Cephalotaxaceae) Cupressaceae s.l.[27] Christenhusz and colleagues (2011) included only one family in Pinales, Pinaceae,[2] a practice subsequently followed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website[33] and the Gymnosperm Database.