Dioscoreales

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Dioscoreales Temporal range: Mid Cretaceous – Recent 116–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Dioscorea communis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Dioscoreales Mart.[1][2][3]
Type species
Dioscorea villosa L.
Families
Burmanniaceae Blume (45)[4] Dioscoreaceae R.Br. (46) Nartheciaceae Fr. ex Bjurzon (44)
Synonyms
Burmanniales Heintze Nartheciales Reveal & Zomlefer Taccales Dumortier Tamales Dumortier Dioscoreanae Reveal & Doweld Burmanniidae Heintze

The Dioscoreales are an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants, organized under modern classification systems, such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group or the Angiosperm Phylogeny Web. Among monocot plants, Dioscoreales are grouped with the lilioid monocots, wherein they are a sister group to the Pandanales. In total, the order Dioscoreales comprises three families, 22 genera and about 850 species.

Dioscoreales contains the family Dioscoreaceae, which notably includes the yams (Dioscorea) and several other bulbous and tuberous plants, some of which are heavily cultivated as staple food sources in certain countries.

Certain species are found solely in arid climates (incl. parts of Southern Africa), and have adapted to this harsh environment as caudex-forming, perennial caudiciformes, including Dioscorea elephantipes, the "elephant's foot" or "elephant-foot yam".

Older systems tended to place all lilioid monocots with reticulate veined leaves (such as Smilacaceae and Stemonaceae together with Dioscoraceae) in Dioscoreales; as currently circumscribed by phylogenetic analysis, using combined morphology and molecular methods, Dioscreales now contains many reticulate-veined vines within the Dioscoraceae, as well as the myco-heterotrophic Burmanniaceae and the autotrophic Nartheciaceae.