BALANOPALES

order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Balanopaceae, with a single genus (Balanops) and 12 species of trees and shrubs that have simple, alternately positioned or somewhat whorled leaves. The plants are further characterized by flowers that lack showy parts (sepals and petals). The male and female flowers occur on separate plants (i.e., the plants are dioecious), the male in catkins (elongated, dangling clusters) and the female solitary. Each female flower consists of a single ovule-bearing structure (pistil) composed of two or three carpels, or structural units, and containing two or three imperfectly separated chambers (locules), each with two ovules. The upper part of the pistil is formed into two short processes (styles), each terminated by two long, tapering stigmas, or pollen-receptive surfaces. The pistil is seated in a basal whorl (involucre) of many overlapping, scalelike bracts forming a cupule that persists in the mature fruit, giving it an acorn-like appearance. The order is distributed mainly in New Caledonia, with populations occurring also in Vanuatu, Fiji, and limited tropical areas of Queensland, Australia. The order is an ancient group whose evolutionary position is controversial but thought to be closest to the beech order (Fagales); both are considered to have a common ancestor.