order Taxales
- noun
- Archaic
- The order Taxales is now generally considered synonymous with the family Taxaceae.
Examples
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The order Taxales was once widely used in botanical classification for yews.
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Advances in plant genetics led to reclassifying many members of the order Taxales.
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The order Taxales includes various species of yews.
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Did you know that the order Taxales consists of coniferous trees?
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Many botanists study the order Taxales to understand the evolution of coniferous trees.
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Species within the order Taxales provide important ecological benefits in forest ecosystems.
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The classification of the order Taxales has evolved with advances in genetic research.
Synonyms
A group of cone-bearing trees that includes the yews
A group of cone-bearing trees and shrubs that includes yew trees
A group of evergreen trees and shrubs that includes the yew and similar plants
Surface Forms
Morphology
This phrase is compositionally transparent: 'order' (a taxonomic rank) combined with the proper name 'Taxales' yields the meaning ‘‘the taxonomic order called Taxales (the group of yews)’. Taxonomic naming conventions work similarly across languages and the meaning follows directly from the constituent definitions, so a learner who knows both elements will understand it.
Etymology
Order Taxales comes from the Latin word Taxus, meaning the yew tree, plus the ending -ales that names a plant 'order'. So it literally meant the 'group of yews', which is why the name was used for the yew family and is now usually treated as the family Taxaceae.