DIAPENSIALES

Arctic diapensia (Diapensia lapponica) order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Diapensiaceae, with seven genera of small, evergreen shrubs and basally woody herbs found in Arctic and alpine (high elevation) habitats of Europe, Asia, and the eastern United States. The plants are characterized by the presence of radially symmetrical, bisexual flowers with five free or fused sepals; five basally fused, overlapping petals, on the surfaces of which are situated five stamens (male pollen-producing structures) that are alternate in position with the petal lobes; and one pistil (female structure) composed of three carpels (ovule-bearing segments) and divided internally into three chambers that contain from few to many ovules each. Occasionally there are five sterile stamens, or staminodes, positioned opposite the petal lobes. The order is related to the heath order (Ericales), and both orders are considered to have had an evolutionary ancestor in the tea order (Theales). The genera include Shortia (seven or eight species), Diapensia (three species), Schizocodon (two species), Berneuxia (two species), Diplarche (two species), Pyxidanthera (one or two species), and Galax (one species). The wand-flower, beetleweed, or galax (Galax urceolata), native to the southeastern United States, is widely used in the florist trade in wreaths and decorations for its large, stiff, heart-shaped or rounded leaves, which are especially attractive in the autumn when they develop a rich bronze colour. The fringed galax (Shortia soldanelloides), a small shrub only a few inches tall with nodding, one-inch (2.5-centimetre) flowers, is sometimes grown as a garden ornamental. Species of Shortia, Diapensia, and Pyxidanthera are sometimes grown in wildflower and rock gardens.