Meliaceae

Last updated

Contents

Meliaceae
Temporal range: Campanian–Recent
Chinaberry1216.JPG
Melia azedarach in flower
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Juss. [1]
Subfamilies

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 syncarpous, [2] apparently bisexual (but actually mostly cryptically unisexual) flowers borne in panicles, cymes, spikes or clusters. Most species are evergreen, but some are deciduous, either in the dry season or in winter.

The family includes about 53 genera and about 600 known species, [3] with a pantropical distribution; one genus ( Toona ) extends north into temperate China and south into southeast Australia, another (Synoum) into southeast Australia, and another (Melia) nearly as far north. They most commonly grow as understory trees in rainforests, but are also found in mangroves and arid regions. [4]

The fossil record of the family extends back into the Late Cretaceous. [5]

Fruits of Chisocheton cumingianus Fruits of Chisocheton paniculatus.JPG
Fruits of Chisocheton cumingianus

Uses

Various species are used for vegetable oil, soap-making, insecticides, and highly prized wood (mahogany).

Some economically important genera and species belong to this family:

Genera

58 genera are currently accepted. [6]

Chinese rice flower (Aglaia odorata) Aglaiaodorata1web.jpg
Chinese rice flower ( Aglaia odorata )

The family is divided into two subfamilies, Cedreloideae and Melioideae, which are supported by phylogenetic evidence. [7]

Subfamily Cedreloideae

This is also known as subfamily Swietenioideae. [8] [9]

tribe Cedreleae [8]

other tribes and genera:

Subfamily Melioideae

tribe: Aglaieae

- related genera:

tribe: Guareeae [10] - Africa

tribe: Melieae

tribe: Sandoriceae

tribe: Turraeeae

- related genera:

tribe: Trichilieae

- related genera:

tribe: Vavaeeae

tribe unassigned:

Notes

  1. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x . hdl: 10654/18083 .
  2. Of a gynoecium, made up of united carpels
  3. Christenhusz, M. J. M.; Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 .
  4. Heywood, V.H.; Brummitt, R.K.; Culham, A.; Seberg, O. (2007). Flowering Plant Families of the World. Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books. p. 207. ISBN   9781842461655.
  5. Atkinson, Brian A. (January 2020). "Fossil evidence for a Cretaceous rise of the mahogany family". American Journal of Botany. 107 (1): 139–147. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.1416 . ISSN   0002-9122. PMID   31903551.
  6. Meliaceae Juss. Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  7. Holzmeyer, L., Hauenschild, F., Mabberley, D.J. and Muellner-Riehl, A.N. (2021), Confirmed polyphyly, generic recircumscription and typification of Dysoxylum (Meliaceae), with revised disposition of currently accepted species. Taxon, 70: 1248-1272. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12591
  8. 1 2 Gouvea CF, Dornelas MC, Rodriguez AP (2008). "Floral Development in the Tribe Cedreleae (Meliaceae, Sub-family Swietenioideae): Cedrela and Toona". Annals of Botany. 101 (1): 39–48. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm279. PMC   2701842 . PMID   17981877.
  9. "Missouri Botanic Garden: list of Meliaceae genera (retrieved 18 January 2018)".
  10. "Koenen E (2011) Phylogenetic and biogeographic studies in Guareeae (Meliaceae: Melioideae) - (retrieved 18 January 2018)".
  11. Koenen E (2011) ibid.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahogany</span> Timber of tropical hardwood species in the genus Swietenia

Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus Swietenia, indigenous to the Americas and part of the pantropical chinaberry family, Meliaceae. Mahogany is used commercially for a wide variety of goods, due to its coloring and durable nature. It is naturally found within the Americas, but has also been imported to plantations across Asia and Oceania. The mahogany trade may have begun as early as the 16th century and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. In certain countries, mahogany is considered an invasive species.

<i>Aglaia</i> Genus of plants in the family Meliaceae

Aglaia is a genus of 121 recognised species of woody dioecious trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae. They occur in the subtropical and tropical forests of Southeast Asia, northern Australia and the Pacific.

<i>Toona</i> Genus of plants

Toona, commonly known as redcedar, toon or toona, tooni is a genus in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, native from Afghanistan south to India, and east to North Korea, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. In older texts, the genus was often incorporated within a wider circumscription of the related genus Cedrela, but that genus is now restricted to species from the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapotaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of evergreen trees and shrubs in around 65 genera. Their distribution is pantropical.

<i>Azadirachta</i> Genus of flowering plants

Azadirachta is a genus of two species of trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae. Numerous species have been proposed for the genus but only two are currently recognized, Azadirachta excelsa and the economically important tree Azadirachta indica, the neem tree, from which neem oil is extracted. Both species are native to the Indomalaysian region, and A. indica is also widely cultivated and naturalized outside its native range.

<i>Entandrophragma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Entandrophragma is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae.

<i>Synoum</i> Genus of trees

Synoum is a monotypic genus of evergreen tree in the family Meliaceae. It is endemic to Australia where it is found along the eastern sub-tropical to tropical coast, usually on the margins of rainforests, in Queensland and New South Wales.

<i>Dysoxylum</i> Genus of plants in the family Meliaceae

Dysoxylum is a genus of rainforest trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Meliaceae. About 34 species are recognised in the genus, distributed from India and southern China, through southeast Asia to New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Australia. The name Dysoxylum derives from the Greek word ‘Dys’ meaning "bad" referring to "ill-smelling" and ‘Xylon’ meaning "wood".

<i>Toona sinensis</i> Species of tree

Toona sinensis, commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon is a species of Toona native to eastern and southeastern Asia, ranging from northern Korean peninsula through most of eastern, central, and southwestern China, in Nepal, northeastern India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and even present in Malaysia and western Indonesia.

Pseudocarapa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes five species which range from Sri Lanka to Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and New Guinea.

<i>Didymocheton</i> Genus of flowering plants

Didymocheton is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes 41 species which range from eastern India through Indochina and southern China to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

Prasoxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes seven species which range from Nepal and eastern India through Indochina to southern China, Taiwan, Malesia, Sri Lanka, Papuasia, and Queensland.

PtaeroxylaceaeJuss. are a small family of Southern African indigenous trees and woody lianes, most of them from Madagascar, comprising only two genera. Such a family was not recognized by the APG II system of classification (2003), which noted that it was a synonym of Rutaceae. The APG III system of 2009, an updated version of the last system, did not mention the family. All species within this family are included within Rutaceae.

<i>Toona sureni</i> Species of tree

Toona sureni is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is native to South Asia, Indochina, Malesia, China, and Papua New Guinea. It is commonly known as the suren toon, surian, limpaga, iron redwood or the red cedar. It is also known as the Indonesian mahogany or the Vietnamese mahogany. The species is a valuable timber tree.

Prasoxylon alliaceum is a tree in the family Meliaceae. The specific epithet alliaceum is from the Latin meaning "onion-like", referring to the smell of the inner bark.

<i>Epicharis parasitica</i> Species of plant in the family Meliaceae

Epicharis parasitica, commonly known as yellow mahogany, is a species of rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae native to Taiwan, parts of Malesia, Papuasia, and northeast Queensland.

Lepidotrichilia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Meliaceae.

<i>Neoguarea</i> Genus of flowering plants

Neoguarea glomerulata is a species of flowering plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a tree or shrub native to west-central tropical Africa, ranging from southern Nigeria through Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the sole species in genus Neoguarea. It grows in lowland Guineo-Congolian rainforest.

Epicharis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes seven species which range from Indochina to south-central China, Taiwan, Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and Fiji.

References