The Sapindaceae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 t ...

s in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut,

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 h ...

s, ackee and

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 ...

. The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world. Many are laticiferous, i.e. they contain

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

, a milky sap, and many contain mildly

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a sub ...

saponins with

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 us ...

-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots. The largest genera are '' Serjania'', ''

Paullinia ''Paullinia'' is a genus of flowering shrubs, small trees and lianas in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, native to tropical South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The genus is named after the German medical botanist Christian ...

'', '' Allophylus'' and '' Acer''.

Description

Plants of this family have a variety of habits, from

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 to

herbaceous plant 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 ...

s to

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a t ...

s. 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 a swollen base and lacks

stipules 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 ...

. Some genera and species have laurel forest foliage due to

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

The

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 mechanis ...

s are small and unisexual, or functionally unisexual, though plants may be either

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

or monoecious. They are usually found in

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

grouped in

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s. They most often have four or five

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s (petals are absent in '' Dodonaea''). The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the fila ...

s range from four to 10, usually on 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 Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pist ...

contains two or three carpels, sometimes up to six. The usually single style has a lobed stigma. Most often they are pollinated by

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

or insects, with a few species pollinated by

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...

. Ripe

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

s may be fleshy or dry. They may be nuts,

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, ras ...

, drupes, schizocarps, capsules ('' Bridgesia''), or samaras (''Acer''). The embryos are bent or coiled, without

endosperm The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the embryo an ...

in the seed, and frequently with an

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

Classification

The Sapindaceae are related to the Rutaceae, and both are usually placed in an order Sapindales or

Rutales 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 includes it ...

, 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 In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...

. The former Ptaeroxylaceae, now placed in Rutaceae, were sometimes placed in Sapindaceae. The family 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), ''

'' (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 the families Aceraceae (''Acer'', '' Dipteronia'') and Hippocastanaceae ('' Aesculus'', ''

Billia ''Billia'' is a genus of trees in the family Sapindaceae and native to the Americas, from central Mexico to Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, Repúbl ...

'', ''

Handeliodendron ''Handeliodendron bodinieri'' is a rare deciduous tree/shrub native to China and the only species in the monotypic genus ''Handeliodendron''. Description It grows up to 15 meters tall, and grows in mountain areas characterized by irregular li ...

'') 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.

Notable species

The Sapindaceae include many species of economically valuable tropical

, including the

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...

, pitomba, guinip/mamoncillo,

korlan ''Nephelium hypoleucum'', the korlan, is a tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is in the same genus as the rambutan and also closely related to several other tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and guinep. The fruit is a round to oval ...

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 ...

, pulasan, and ackee. Other products include guaraná, soapberries, and

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tr ...

. Some species of

and buckeye are valued for their wood, while several other genera, such as '' Koelreuteria'', '' Cardiospermum'', and ''

Ungnadia ''Ungnadia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae containing one species, ''Ungnadia speciosa'', the Mexican buckeye. It is native to northern Mexico, as well as Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States. The name ho ...

'', are popular ornamentals. '' Schleichera trijuga'' is the source of Indian macassar oil. Saponins extracted from the drupe of ''

Sapindus ''Sapindus'' is a genus of about five to twelve species of shrubs and small trees in the lychee family, Sapindaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. Members of ...

'' species are effective

surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsion#Emulsifiers , ...

s and are used commercially in

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

and

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are m ...

s. File:Ackee 001.jpg, Ackee (''Blighia Sapida)'' fruit File:Melicoccus bijugatus (Sapindaceae).jpg, Guinep/ Mamoncillo ''(Melicoccus bijugatus)'' fruit File:Lychee fruit.jpg,

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 ...

Fruit File:Dimocarpus longan males F 070203 035 ime ed.jpg, Alupag (''Dimocarpus didyma'') fruits File:Essa fruta se divide em tres como o guaraná.jpg, Guaraná fruit

References

External links

Sapindaceae
i

USDA Agricultural Research Service: Fruits and seeds of Sapindaceae.
Retrieved 16 July 2018. {{Authority control Sapindales families Saponaceous plants