Mesangiospermae is a clade that contains the majority of flowering plants (angiosperms). Mesangiosperms are therefore known as the core angiosperms, in contrast to the three orders of earlier-diverging species known as the basal angiosperms: Nymphaeales, Austrobaileyales, and Amborellales. Mesangiospermae includes about 350,000 species, while there are about 175 extant species of basal angiosperms.