Luvalliales

Luvalliales is a historical order of mosses used in some bryophyte classifications. It was introduced in certain taxonomic treatments to group a subset of leafy mosses, but the exact composition of the order varied among authors and time periods. Because there was no universally accepted definition, different botanists placed different families and genera within Luvalliales, leading to inconsistent circumscription.

In modern bryology, Luvalliales is not recognized as a valid order by major classification schemes. The taxa that were once placed in Luvalliales have been redistributed into other orders as knowledge of moss relationships improved, especially with the advent of molecular phylogenetics. The lack of stable synapomorphies and the inconsistent historic circumscription have contributed to its obsolescence in contemporary taxonomic references.

Today, references to Luvalliales are primarily found in historical literature and in databases that retain legacy classifications. The term is generally treated as obsolete or deprecated, and it serves mainly to illustrate past approaches to moss taxonomy rather than as a usable framework for current identification or study.

See also: Bryophyte taxonomy, Moss orders, Molecular phylogenetics in bryology. References commonly cited in discussions of legacy classifications include foundational bryophyte taxonomic works and modern summaries of moss systematics that note the historical status of Luvalliales.