Poales is a botanical name at the rank of order.
The APG II system, of 2003, recognizes such an order and places it in clade commelinids, in the monocots. It uses this circumscription:
By far the most important family economically is the family of grasses (Gramineae or Poaceae), which includes barley, maize, millet, rice, and wheat. It is also the largest family in the order, far outnumbering its competitors:
Estimates place the origin of the Poales in South America nearly 115 million years ago. The earliest known fossils include pollen and fruits that have been dated to the late Cretaceous (Bremer, 2000). The flowers are typically small, enclosed by bracts, and arranged in an inflorescence (except in the genus Mayaca, with solitary terminal flowers). The flowers of many species are wind pollinated; the seeds usually contain starch.
The APG system, of 1998, adopted the same placement (although it used the spelling "commelinoids") and used this circumscription (that is, it did not include the plants in families Abolbodaceae, Bromeliaceae and Mayacaceae in the order):
The Cronquist system did not recognize an order named Poales: the plants as included by APG II were assigned to the orders Bromeliales, Cyperales, Hydatellales, Juncales, Restionales and Typhales.
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