''Handeliodendron bodinieri'' is a rare deciduous tree/shrub native to China and the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Handeliodendron''.

Description

It grows up to 15 meters tall, and grows in mountain areas characterized by irregular limestone formations in

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

and

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

. The seeds are rich in oil, making them attractive to wild animals.

Classification

It is related to ''

Aesculus The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with species called buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native plant, native to the temperateness, temperate Northern H ...

'' (horse chestnuts) and ''

Billia ''Billia'' is a genus of trees in the family Sapindaceae and native to the Americas, from central Mexico to Ecuador. The wood is used in carpentry. Species The following species are recognized: * ''Billia hippocastanum'' * ''Billia rosea ...

'', and is classified with in either

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...

, subfamily Hippocastanoideae, or the family

Hippocastanaceae Hippocastanoideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. The group was formerly treated as the separate families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Molecular phylogenetic research by Harrington et al. (2005) has s ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15961789, from2=Q3310310 Monotypic Sapindaceae genera Flora of China Sapindaceae