Superasterids
| Superasterids Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Torenia fournieri, a member of the asterid order Lamiales | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Core eudicots |
| Clade: | Superasterids |
| Clades | |
The superasterids are a major clade of flowering plants within the core eudicots. In the APG IV system of flowering-plant classification, the clade comprises Berberidopsidales, Santalales, Caryophyllales, and the large clade known as the asterids. The superasterids include more than 90,000 described species; the asterids alone contain more than 80,000 species.
APG IV recognizes 20 orders and 146 families within the superasterids. Subsequent plastid and nuclear phylogenomic studies broadly support this circumscription, although the branching order of several early-diverging lineages and the limits of some families remain subjects of research.
Members of the clade are extraordinarily diverse in form and ecology. They include forest trees, shrubs, vines, annual and perennial herbs, aquatic plants, desert succulents, carnivorous plants, epiphytes, and both partially and completely parasitic plants. Familiar superasterids include asters, daisies, sunflowers, lettuces, carrots, celery, coffee, tea, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, olives, mints, heaths, blueberries, cacti, carnations, beets, spinach, quinoa, buckwheat, sandalwoods, mistletoes, and numerous ornamental plants.
The name is based on Asteridae, a name historically used for a subclass or other high-ranking group of flowering plants. In APG IV, “superasterids” is an informal, unranked clade name rather than a traditional Linnaean rank.