15-491: The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family . It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut , maples , ackee and lychee . The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world. Many are laticiferous , i.e. they contain latex , a milky sap , and many contain mildly toxic saponins with soap -like qualities in either
30-554: A nectar disc between the petals and stamens, their filaments are often hairy. The most frequent number is eight, in two rings of four. The gynoecium contains two or three carpels , sometimes up to six. The usually single style has a lobed stigma. Most often they are pollinated by birds or insects , with a few species pollinated by wind . Ripe fruits may be fleshy or dry. They may be nuts , berries , drupes , schizocarps , capsules ( Bridgesia ), or samaras ( Acer ). The embryos are bent or coiled, without endosperm in
45-457: A consensus over time. The naming of families is codified by various international bodies using the following suffixes: The taxonomic term familia was first used by French botanist Pierre Magnol in his Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur (1689) where he called the seventy-six groups of plants he recognised in his tables families ( familiae ). The concept of rank at that time
60-446: A family, yet in the realm of plants, these classifications often rely on both the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of plant species. Taxonomists frequently hold varying perspectives on these descriptions, leading to a lack of widespread consensus within the scientific community for extended periods. The continual publication of new data and diverse opinions plays a crucial role in facilitating adjustments and ultimately reaching
75-497: A swollen base and lacks stipules . Some genera and species have laurel forest foliage due to convergent evolution . The flowers are small and unisexual , or functionally unisexual, though plants may be either dioecious or monoecious. They are usually found in cymes grouped in panicles . They most often have four or five petals and sepals (petals are absent in Dodonaea ). The stamens range from four to 10, usually on
90-450: Is divided into four subfamilies, Dodonaeoideae (about 38 genera), Sapindoideae (about 114 genera), Hippocastanoideae (5 genera) and Xanthoceroideae (1 genus). The largest genera are Serjania (about 220 species), Paullinia (about 180 species), and Allophylus (about 200 species) in the tropical Sapindoideae and Acer (about 110 species) in the temperate Hippocastanoideae. The largely temperate genera formerly separated in
105-540: Is the source of Indian macassar oil . Saponins extracted from the drupe of Sapindus species are effective surfactants and are used commercially in cosmetics and detergents . Family (biology) Family ( Latin : familia , pl. : familiae ) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy . It is classified between order and genus . A family may be divided into subfamilies , which are intermediate ranks between
120-463: The Genera Plantarum of George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker this word ordo was used for what now is given the rank of family. Families serve as valuable units for evolutionary, paleontological, and genetic studies due to their relatively greater stability compared to lower taxonomic levels like genera and species. Allophylus Allophylus is a genus within
135-514: The book's morphological section, where he delved into discussions regarding the vegetative and generative aspects of plants. Subsequently, in French botanical publications, from Michel Adanson 's Familles naturelles des plantes (1763) and until the end of the 19th century, the word famille was used as a French equivalent of the Latin ordo (or ordo naturalis ). In zoology ,
150-908: The families Aceraceae ( Acer , Dipteronia ) and Hippocastanaceae ( Aesculus , Billia , Handeliodendron ) were included within a more broadly circumscribed Sapindaceae by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group . Recent research has confirmed the inclusion of these genera in the Sapindaceae. The Sapindaceae include many species of economically valuable tropical fruit , including the lychee , longan , pitomba , guinip/mamoncillo , korlan , rambutan , pulasan , and ackee . Other products include guaraná , soapberries , and maple syrup . Some species of maple and buckeye are valued for their wood, while several other genera, such as Koelreuteria , Cardiospermum , and Ungnadia , are popular ornamentals . Schleichera trijuga
165-540: The family as a rank intermediate between order and genus was introduced by Pierre André Latreille in his Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel (1796). He used families (some of them were not named) in some but not in all his orders of "insects" (which then included all arthropods ). In nineteenth-century works such as the Prodromus of Augustin Pyramus de Candolle and
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#1732780969466180-619: The foliage and/or the seeds, or roots. The largest genera are Serjania , Paullinia , Allophylus and Acer . Plants of this family have a variety of habits, from trees to herbaceous plants to lianas . The leaves of the tropical genera are usually spirally alternate, while those of the temperate maples ( Acer ), Aesculus , and a few other genera are opposite. They are most often pinnately compound , but are palmately compound in Aesculus , and simply palmate in Acer . The petiole has
195-491: The ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae , but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". The delineation of what constitutes a family— or whether a described family should be acknowledged— is established and decided upon by active taxonomists . There are not strict regulations for outlining or acknowledging
210-628: The seed, and frequently with an aril . The Sapindaceae are related to the Rutaceae , and both are usually placed in an order Sapindales or Rutales , depending on whether they are kept separate and which name is used for the order. The most basal member appears to be Xanthoceras . Some authors formerly maintained some or all of Hippocastanaceae and Aceraceae , however this resulted in paraphyly . The former Ptaeroxylaceae , now placed in Rutaceae, were sometimes placed in Sapindaceae. The family
225-488: Was not yet settled, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera , which is far from how the term is used today. In his work Philosophia Botanica published in 1751, Carl Linnaeus employed the term familia to categorize significant plant groups such as trees , herbs , ferns , palms , and so on. Notably, he restricted the use of this term solely within
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