In the older Cronquist system, these plants were split into three different orders, placed among the Hamamelidae.
The Casuarinales comprised the single family Casuarinaceae, the Juglandales comprised the Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae, and the Myricales comprised the remaining forms (plus Belanops).
The change is due to studies suggesting that the Myricales, so defined, are paraphyletic to the other two groups.
Order Myricales(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Plants in this family are much like those in Order Juglandales but they have simple rather than compound leaves.
Species in Myricales are trees and shrubs which often have root nodules containing bacteria that are able to "fix" nitrogen from the air and produce nitrates for the plants to use.
This enables them to grow in soils that are not rich in nutrients.
