| Noun | 1. | order Ranunculales - herbs, shrubs and trees: includes families Ranunculaceae; Annonaceae; Berberidaceae; Magnoliaceae; Menispermaceae; Myristicaceae; Nymphaeaceae; Lardizabalaceae; Lauraceae; Calycanthaceae; Ceratophyllaceae; CercidiphyllaceaeMagnoliidae, ranalian complex, subclass Magnoliidae - a group of families or trees and shrubs and herbs having well-developed perianths and apocarpous ovaries and generally regarded as the most primitive extant flowering plants; contains 36 families including Magnoliaceae and Ranunculaceae; sometimes classified as a superorder | |