Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

family of mostly

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and shrubs (and a few

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

plants, mangroves) in the order

Sapindales Sapindales is an order of flowering plants. Well-known members of Sapindales include citrus; maples, horse-chestnuts, lychees and rambutans; mangos and cashews; frankincense and myrrh; mahogany and neem. The APG III system of 2009 inclu ...

. They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s, and by syncarpous, apparently bisexual (but actually mostly cryptically unisexual)

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

s borne in panicles, cymes, spikes, or clusters. Most species are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, but some are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

, either in the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

or in winter. The family includes about 53 genera and about 600 known species, with a pantropical distribution; one genus ('' Toona'') extends north into temperate China and south into southeast Australia, another (''Synoum'') into southeast Australia, and another (''Melia'') nearly as far north. They most commonly grow as understory trees in rainforests, but are also found in mangroves and arid regions. The fossil record of the family extends back into the Late Cretaceous. Fruits of Chisocheton paniculatus

Uses

Various species are used for

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, ...

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used ...

-making, insecticides, and highly prized

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...

(mahogany). Some economically important genera and species belong to this family: * Neem tree ''Azadirachta indica'' (India) *''

Carapa ''Carapa'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. These are trees up to 30 meters tall occurring in tropical South America, Central America,Hogan, C. M. 2008Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests.Encyclopedia of Earth, World ...

'': includes the "crabwood trees" ''e.g. Carapa procera'' (South America and Africa) *'' Cedrela odorata'' Central and South America; timber also known as Spanish-cedar *'' Entandrophragma'': includes sapele and "utile" or "sipo" (''E. utile'') of tropical Africa * ''Guarea'', the genus of ''Bossé'' or "pink mahogany" includes: '' G. thompsonii'' and '' G. cedrata'' (Africa) *'' Khaya'' includes: Ivory Coast Mahogany and

Senegal Mahogany ''Khaya senegalensis'' is a species of tree in the Meliaceae family that is native to Africa. Common names include African mahogany, dry zone mahogany, Gambia mahogany, khaya wood, Senegal mahogany, ''cailcedrat'', ''acajou'', ''djalla'', and ' ...

(tropical Africa) * Chinaberry or white cedar, ''Melia azedarach'' ( Indomalaya and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

) * Santol ('' Sandoricum koetjape''), grown for their edible fruit in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

* Lanzones ('' Lansium parasiticum''), grown for their edible fruit in

*'' Swietenia'' is the classic "mahogany" genus from the tropical Americas *'' Toona'': the genus of "toon tree" species (tropical

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

, Malesia, and Australia), especially '' Toona ciliata''

Genera

Subfamily Cedreloideae

This is also known as subfamily Swietenioideae.

Subfamily Melioideae

Notes

References

* (1975): A generic monograph of the Meliaceae. ''Blumea'' 22: 419–540.

External links

Meliaceae
i
L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants.Project Meliaceae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q158979 Sapindales families