Floral diagrams are presented for twenty-one families of the highly diverse orders caryophyllales and polygonales. The caryophyllids represent a small but important clade close to the asterids. The flowers show important evolutionary trends linked with a progressive loss of petals, and their reinvention of petal-like structures in derived groups, such as coloured sepals or staminodes. Stamen evolution also shows unique trends linked with spatial constraints and secondary multiplications. The ovary shows a general tendency to the development of central placentas and the reduction in the number of ovules. Floral diagrams are used to illustrate the major evolutionary trends within caryophyllales and specifically within the diverse family Polygonaceae, in addition to specific diagrams representative of families.