The Ericales include trees, bushes, lianas, and herbaceous plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, they include chlorophyll-deficient mycoheterotrophic plants (e.g., Sarcodes sanguinea) and carnivorous plants (e.g., genus Sarracenia). Mycorrhizal associations are quite common among the order representatives, and three kinds of mycorrhiza are found exclusively among Ericales (namely, ericoid, arbutoid and monotropoid mycorrhiza). In addition, some families among the order are notable for their exceptional ability to accumulate aluminum.<ref>(Jansen et al., 2004).</ref>
Many species have five petals, often grown together. Fusion of the petals as a trait was traditionally used to place the order in the subclass Sympetalae.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Ericales are a cosmopolitan order. Areas of distribution of families vary largely – while some are restricted to tropics, others exist mainly in Arctic or temperate regions. The entire order contains over 8,000 species, of which the Ericaceae account for 2,000–4,000 species (by various estimates).
According to molecular studies, the lineage that led to Ericales diverged from other plants about 127 million years<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> or diversified 110 million years ago.<ref name="rose2018">Template:Cite journal</ref>
