Sapindales Plant Order
qiazhan English name: Sapindales
Sub Title:
Sapindales, order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, containing 9 families, about 460 genera, and some 5,700 species of shrubs, woody vines, and trees. It includes the Citrus genus and other species important for their fruits.
More than half the species in Sapindales belong to two families: Sapindaceae (about 1,600 species) and Rutaceae (about 1,800 species). Most of the remaining species belong to four other well-known families: Anacardiaceae (about 600 species), Burseraceae (550 species), Meliaceae (621 species), and Simaroubaceae (95 species). The remaining three families (Biebersteiniaceae, Kirkiaceae, and Nitrariaceae) total 27 species.
Sapindales is placed in the Rosid II group, along with Huerteales, Malvales, and Brassicales, in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II botanical classification system (see angiosperm).
Distribution and abundance
Sapindaceae, or the soapberry family, with about 135 genera and some 1,600 species, occurs mainly in the tropical areas of the world and is especially abundant in the American tropics. Species range from trees and shrubs to lianas or herbaceous vines. The family is found throughout the wetter tropics and subtropics, extending north to Japan and south to New Zealand. The largest genera in the family are Serjania (215 species), which occurs from the southern United States to tropical South America and has a main centre of diversity in southeastern Brazil, and Paullinia (195 species) in the American tropics and subtropics. Both are lianas or vines. Allophylus is a tropical and subtropical genus of shrubs and trees, with anywhere from 1 to 200 species recognized by some botanists.
Included within Sapindaceae are the genera from two former families, Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. The most important genus in Aceraceae was Acer (maple), with about 110 species, which is found across the north temperate zone from western North America to Japan. Maple trees form an important component of the deciduous forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. The distribution of the genus dips southward to Guatemala and through Southeast Asia to Malaysia and the Philippines, where species may be abundant in tropical mountain forests. The major centre of distribution for the genus is China, where half the maple species occur; about three-quarters of the species are Asian. There are eight species of Acer with compound leaves that are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Negundo. Another former member of Aceraceae is Dipteronia, a genus of central and southern China with two species.
Hippocastanaceae had only two genera of trees and shrubs. Aesculus (horse chestnuts and buckeyes), with about 13 deciduous species, has an interrupted distribution in temperate forests from western and eastern North America (seven species) to the Balkan Peninsula in Europe (one species) and in Asia from India to China and Japan (five species). The two evergreen species of Billia occur as isolated trees in tropical forests from southern Mexico to northern South America.
Rutaceae, or the citrus, or rue, family, consists of shrubs, trees, and a few herbs. It has about 160 genera and some 1,800 species, which are widespread in distribution but occur primarily in tropical and warm temperate areas. The largest numbers of genera and species are found in southern Africa and Australia. Many of these grow in semiarid woodlands. The largest genus, Zanthoxylum (about 250 species), occurs in temperate North America and East Asia and throughout the tropics. Melicope (about 150 species, including the former genus Pelea) occurs from Indo-Malaysia through Australia and New Zealand to the Pacific Islands. Agathosma (135 species) is endemic to South Africa. Boronia (about 100 species) is one of the largest endemic Australian genera. Haplophyllum (about 70 species) occurs from the Mediterranean region to eastern Siberia.
Anacardiaceae, or the sumac family, consists of 70 genera and about 600 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines. They occur mostly in the tropics and subtropics, but a few genera extend into both the north and south temperate zones. The largest genus by far is Rhus, with about 200 species in the subtropics and temperate areas of the world. (Although some botanists prefer a narrow circumscription for the genus, in which case it contains only about 35 species.) There are no other genera of comparable size, but Semecarpus (occurring from Indo-Malaysia to Micronesia) has about 60 species, Mangifera (occurring in Southeast Asia and Indo-Malaysia to Solomon Islands) has about 40 species, and Schinus (occurring from Mexico to Argentina) has about 30 species.
Burseraceae, or the frankincense family, has 18 genera and 550 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs throughout the tropics and is especially common in tropical America and northeastern Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula. Many species dominate the forests or woodlands in which they grow. The largest genus, Commiphora (190 species), is found mostly in the drier areas of northeastern Africa, Madagascar, and from Arabia to India. Protium (85 species) occurs mostly in wet lowland areas of tropical America but with a few species in Madagascar and Malaysia. Canarium (75 species) occurs in the forests of the Old World tropics. Bursera (50 species) is found in tropical America, with its centre of diversity in Mexico.
Meliaceae, or the mahogany family, has 52 genera and 621 species of trees, shrubs, and a few perennial herbs. Many are large, widespread, and common or dominant trees in tropical and subtropical primary and secondary forests, with only a few species in temperate areas. About two-thirds of the species occur in the six largest genera: Aglaia (110 species) in Indo-Malaysia and tropical Australia; Trichilia (85 species), which occur commonly as understory trees in lowland forests from Mexico to the West Indies, tropical South America, and tropical Africa; Dysoxylum (80 species) from Indo-Malaysia to the islands of the Pacific; Turraea (60 species) in tropical and southern Africa to Australia; Chisocheton (50 species) in Indo-Malaysia; and Guarea (50 species) in tropical America and tropical Africa.
Simaroubaceae, or the quassia family, consists of 19 genera and 95 species of trees and shrubs that are mostly tropical in distribution. Quassia, with 40 species in the rainforests of tropical America and Africa, contains trees and shrubs that are the source of bitter-tasting compounds used as a vermifuge (to kill intestinal worms) and as insecticides.
