The order Ericales, withing the Division Pentapetalea, and Super Clade Asterids of the Class Eudicotyledon is a large and diverse order of the Class Eudicotyledon (also known as dicotyledons) includes trees, bushes, lianas, and herbaceous plants, many of which are found world-wide.

Together with ordinary autophytic plants, (which plants are those capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances) the Ericales order include chlorophyll-deficient (mycoheterotrophic) plants as well as carnivorous plants.

The order Ericales contains 23-25 families, 346 genera and upwards of 12,000 species. The family Ericacaea is the largest family of the Order Ericales and alone accounts for over 4000 species of the species.

The order Ericales include many economically important members, such as: argan, azaleas, blueberry, Brazil nut, camellias, cranberry, cyclamens, ebony, heather, heath, huckleberry, impatiens, Jacob's ladder, lingonberry, kiwifruit, persimmon, phlox, pouterias, primroses, rhododendrons, sapote, sapodilla, shea, tea (Camellia sinensis) and trumpet pitchers.

Families in the order Ericales follow:

Actinidiaceae, 3 genera, 360 species

Balsaminaceae, 2 genera, 1000 species

Clethraceae, 2 genera, 75 species

Cyrillaceae, 2 genera, 2 species

Diapensiaceae, 6 genera, 15 species

Ebenaceae, 4 genera, 760 species

Ericaceae, 124 genera, 4250 species including Rhododendrom

Fouquieriaceae, 1 genus, 11 species

Lecythidaceae, 20 genera, 250-300 species

Marcgraviaceae, 8 genera, 137 species

Mitrastemonaceae, 1 genus, 2 species

Pentaphylacaceae, 14 genera, 429 species

Polemoniaceae, 25 genera, 270-400 species

Primulaceae, 53 genera, 2790 species

Roridulaceae, 1 genus, 2 species

Sapotaceae, 65 genera, 800 species

Sarraceniaceae, 3 genera, 15 species, Pitcher Plants

Sladeniaceae, 2 genera, 2 species

Styracaceae, 12 genera, 160 species

Symplocaceae, 1 genus, 300 species

Tetrameristaceae, 3 genera, 5 species

Theaceae, 7 genera, 200 species

Theophrastaceae, 8 genera, 95 species