Sapindales is an
order of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s. Well-known members of Sapindales include
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
;
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
s,
horse-chestnut
''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnut, Europe ...
s,
lychee
Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''.
It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...
s and
rambutan
Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...
s;
mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
s and
cashew
The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...
s;
frankincense and
myrrh
Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus ''Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh mi ...
;
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
and
neem
''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus '' Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...
.
![Sapindales phylogeny](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Sapindales_phylogeny.jpg)
The
APG III system
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...
of 2009 includes it in the
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
malvids
The rosids are members of a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms.
The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classificatio ...
(in
rosids
The rosids are members of a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms.
The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classificati ...
, in
eudicots
The eudicots, Eudicotidae, or eudicotyledons are a clade of flowering plants mainly characterized by having two seed leaves upon germination. The term derives from Dicotyledons.
Traditionally they were called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dico ...
) with the following nine families:
![Trichostetha bicolor feeding on flowers of Agathosma capensis (Rutaceae) at Saldanha Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Trichostetha_bicolor_feeding_on_flowers_of_Agathosma_capensis_%28Rutaceae%29_at_Saldanha_Bay.jpg)
![Chloroxylon swietenia W IMG 1326](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Chloroxylon_swietenia_W_IMG_1326.jpg)
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Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
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Biebersteiniaceae
''Biebersteinia'' is a genus containing five species, of herbs in the flowering plant order Sapindales. They occur from East Mediterranean to West Siberia and Central Asia. They are normally stemless and have tuberous rhizomes.Armen Takhtajan
I ...
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Burseraceae
The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also kno ...
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Kirkiaceae
Kirkiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. It comprises one (or two) genera, ''Kirkia'' (and '' Pleiokirkia'' now included in ''Kirkia''), totalling six species. These two genera were previously placed in family Simarouba ...
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Meliaceae
Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales.
They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncar ...
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Nitrariaceae
Nitrariaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. It comprises four genera, '' Malacocarpus'', ''Nitraria'', ''Peganum'' and ''Tetradiclis'', totalling 19 species.
The family's main range is in the arid and semi-arid regions ...
(including
Peganaceae and
Tetradiclidaceae)
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Rutaceae
The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rue[RUTACEAE](_blank)
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...
*
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 ...
*
Simaroubaceae
The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 20 ...
The
APG II system
The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gr ...
of 2003 allowed the optional segregation of families now included in the Nitrariaceae.
In the classification system of
Dahlgren the Rutaceae were placed in the order Rutales, in the
superorder Rutiflorae (also called Rutanae). The
Cronquist system
The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) a ...
of 1981 used a somewhat different circumscription, including the following families:
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Staphyleaceae
Staphyleaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Crossosomatales, native to Europe, temperate and tropical Asia and the Americas. The largest genus ''Staphylea'', which gives the family its name, contains the "bladdernut" trees. ...
*
Melianthaceae
The Melianthaceae are a family of flowering plants. The APG II system includes them within the rosid clade. All members of Melianthaceae proper are trees or shrubs found in tropical and southern Africa. Francoaceae (the Bridal wreaths) are ...
*
Bretschneideraceae
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Akaniaceae
The Akaniaceae or turnipwood family are a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales. It comprises two genera of trees, '' Akania'' and ''Bretschneidera'', each with a single species. These plants are native to China, Vietnam, Taiwan, an ...
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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 ...
*
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 sho ...
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Aceraceae
Aceraceae were recognized as a family of flowering plants also called the maple family. They contain two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120 species of trees and shrubs. A common characteristic is that the leaves are ...
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Burseraceae
The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also kno ...
*
Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
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Julianiaceae
Anacardioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of t ...
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Simaroubaceae
The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 20 ...
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Cneoraceae
Cneoraceae was a relict family of Mediterranean shrubs that evolved under tropical conditions during the Cenozoic era. It is a dicot that generally favours higher altitudes and is rich in tannin. It produces both hermaphrodite and male flowers bu ...
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Meliaceae
Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales.
They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncar ...
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Rutaceae
The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rue[RUTACEAE](_blank)
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...
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Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. The family includes around 285 species in 22 genera.
Plants in the family Zygophyllaceae may be trees, shrubs, or herbs. They are often found in dry habit ...
The difference from the APG III system is not as large as may appear, as the plants in the families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae stay in this order at APG III (both included in family Sapindaceae). The species now composing the family Nitrariaceae in APG III also belonged to this order in the Cronquist system as part of the family Zygophyllaceae, while those now in the family Kirkiaceae were present as part of the family Simaroubaceae.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Angiosperm orders