Sapindaceae (sap-in-DAY-see-ee)
Iconic Features
- Deciduous trees and shrubs
- Generally compound leaves
- Flowers with prominent nectar disks
Description (Jepson)
- Eudicotyledons (eudicots) – a major lineage of flowering plants including most plants traditionally described as dicots and generally characterized by
- 2 seed leaves (dicotyledon)
- Netted (reticulate) leaf venation
- Flower parts in fours and fives
- Pollen grains with 3 pores (tricolpate)
- Vascular bundles in stem arranged in a ring
- Taproot system
- Deciduous shrubs or trees, some woody vines
- Leaves
- Usually alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
- In native California species, leaves are opposite (2 leaves at each junction with stem), e.g. California buckeye (Aesculus californica) and maples (Acer species)
- Generally compound (divided into leaflets), e.g. California buckeye, or lobed, e.g. maples
- Usually alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
- Flowers
- Inflorescence an arrangement of small flowers
- Unisexual or bisexual; most often functionally unisexual (Carr 2006)
- Radially or bilaterally symmetric
- Prominent nectar disk between the petals and stamens (male flower parts)
- Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
- Fruit is usually a winged schizocarp (a dry fruit that splits into 2 single-seeded segments) or a leathery, single-seeded capsule (a dry, multi-chambered fruit that splits open at maturity)
Notes
- Approximately 1,500 species worldwide
- Includes maple, lychee, and horse chestnut
- Most species are tropical and subtropical
- Temperate species mainly in the genera Acer (maples) and Aesculus (buckeye)
- Many species contain toxic saponins, with soap-like qualities, in the foliage and/or seeds or roots
- Scientific name from the genus Sapindus, from the Latin for “soap”
- Species in this genus are commonly known as soapberries or soapnuts, as the fruit pulp, which contains saponins, can be used to make soap
- Previously separated into 2 family groups: Maple (Aceraceae) and Horse Chestnut (Hippocastanaceae)
- California buckeye (Aesculus californica) is the only representative of this family in Edgewood
Specific References
Carr, G. 2006. Sapindaceae. Flowering Plant Families. Department of Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa.