The Fagaceae are a family of
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 ...
s that includes
beeches,
chestnuts and
oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species.
Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly
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 ...
, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as
evergreen trees and shrubs. They are characterized by alternate simple
leaves with pinnate venation, 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 in the form of
catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (
cupule) nuts. Their leaves are often lobed and both
petioles and
stipules are generally present. Their fruits lack
endosperm and lie in a scaly or spiny husk that may or may not enclose the entire nut, which may consist of one to seven seeds. In the
oaks, genus ''Quercus'', the fruit is a non-valved nut (usually containing one seed) called an acorn. The husk of the acorn in most oaks only forms a cup in which the nut sits. Other members of the family have fully enclosed nuts. Fagaceae is one of the most ecologically important woody plant families in the Northern Hemisphere, as oaks form the backbone of
temperate forest in North America, Europe, and Asia, and are one of the most significant sources of wildlife food.
Several members of the Fagaceae have important economic uses. Many species of
oak,
chestnut, and
beech (genera ''Quercus'', ''Castanea'', and ''Fagus'', respectively) are commonly used as timber for floors, furniture, cabinets, and wine barrels. Cork for stopping wine bottles and a myriad other uses is made from the bark of cork oak, ''