Editing Ericaceae (section)

== Taxonomy ==
[[Michel Adanson]] used the term Vaccinia to describe a similar family, but {{lang|fr|italics=no|[[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu]]}} first used the term Ericaceae. The name comes from the type genus ''[[Erica (plant)|Erica]]'', which appears to be derived from the Greek word {{transliteration|grc|ereíkē}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἐρείκη|ἐρείκη]]}}). The exact meaning is difficult to interpret, but some sources show it as meaning 'heather'. The name may have been used informally to refer to the plants before [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaean]] times, and simply been formalised when Linnaeus described ''Erica'' in 1753, and then again when Jussieu described the Ericaceae in 1789.<ref name=Juss89/>

Historically, the Ericaceae included both subfamilies and tribes. In 1971, Stevens, who outlined the history from 1876 and in some instances 1839, recognised six subfamilies (Rhododendroideae, [[Ericoideae]], [[Vaccinioideae]], [[Pyroloideae]], [[Monotropoideae]], and Wittsteinioideae), and further subdivided four of the subfamilies into tribes, the Rhododendroideae having seven tribes (Bejarieae, Rhodoreae, Cladothamneae, Epigaeae, Phyllodoceae, and Diplarcheae).{{sfnp|Stevens|1971}} Within tribe Rhodoreae, five genera were described, ''[[Rhododendron]]'' L. (including ''Azalea'' L. pro parte), ''Therorhodion'' Small, ''[[Ledum]]'' L., ''Tsusiophyllum'' Max., ''[[Menziesia]]'' J. E. Smith, that were eventually transferred into ''Rhododendron'', along with Diplarche from the monogeneric tribe Diplarcheae.<ref name=Crav11/>

In 2002, systematic research resulted in the inclusion of the formerly recognised families Empetraceae, Epacridaceae, Monotropaceae, Prionotaceae, and Pyrolaceae into the Ericaceae based on a combination of molecular, morphological, anatomical, and embryological data, analysed within a [[phylogenetic]] framework.<ref name=KronJudd02/> The move significantly increased the morphological and geographical range found within the group. One possible classification of the resulting family includes 9 subfamilies, 126 genera, and about 4,000 species:<ref name=APweb/>

*[[Enkianthoideae]] <small>Kron, Judd & Anderberg</small> (one genus, 16 species)
*[[Pyroloideae]] <small>Kosteltsky</small> (4 genera, 40 species)
*[[Monotropoideae]] <small>Arnott</small> (10 genera, 15 species)
*[[Arbutoideae]] <small>Niedenzu</small> (up to six genera, about 80 species)
*[[Cassiopoideae]] <small>Kron & Judd</small> (one genus, 12 species)
*[[Ericoideae]] <small>Link</small> (19 genera, 1790 species)
*[[Harrimanelloideae]] <small>Kron & Judd</small> (one species)
*[[Epacridoideae]] <small>Arn.</small> (=Styphelioideae <small>Sweet</small>) (35 genera, 545 species)
*[[Vaccinioideae]] <small>Arnott</small> (50 genera, 1580 species)

=== Genera ===
{{main|List of Ericaceae genera}}
[[File:Daboecia cantabrica1373917974.jpg|alt=Hot pink flowers with 5 fused petals in a bell shape, covered in slight fuzz and emerging from a branching inflorescence.|thumb|Flowers of ''[[Daboecia cantabrica]]'', showing the typical fused, bell-shaped corolla]]