Aceraceae is a family of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s also called the
Maple Family. It contains two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s and
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s. A common characteristic is that the leaves are
oppositeIn botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of the leaves on the stem of a plant .- Pattern structure :...
, and the fruit a
schizocarpA schizocarp is a dry fruit that develops from multiple carpels. When mature it splits up into mericarps. Mericarps are often 1-seeded as in, for example, Malva, Malvastrum, and Sida...
.
The maples have long been known to be closely related to the family
SapindaceaeSapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee....
. Several
taxonomistsTaxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word finds its roots in the Greek , taxis and , nomos...
(including the
Angiosperm Phylogeny GroupThe Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botanists who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies...
) now include both the Aceraceae and the
Hippocastanaceaethumb|230pxHippocastanaceae is the name given to a small group of trees and shrubs, when this group is treated as a family. Its most widespread genus is Aesculus . However, the American genus Billia and the Chinese genus Handeliodendron are also sometimes included in this family...
in the Sapindaceae.
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Aceraceae is a family of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s also called the
Maple Family. It contains two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s and
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s. A common characteristic is that the leaves are
oppositeIn botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of the leaves on the stem of a plant .- Pattern structure :...
, and the fruit a
schizocarpA schizocarp is a dry fruit that develops from multiple carpels. When mature it splits up into mericarps. Mericarps are often 1-seeded as in, for example, Malva, Malvastrum, and Sida...
.
The maples have long been known to be closely related to the family
SapindaceaeSapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee....
. Several
taxonomistsTaxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word finds its roots in the Greek , taxis and , nomos...
(including the
Angiosperm Phylogeny GroupThe Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botanists who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies...
) now include both the Aceraceae and the
Hippocastanaceaethumb|230pxHippocastanaceae is the name given to a small group of trees and shrubs, when this group is treated as a family. Its most widespread genus is Aesculus . However, the American genus Billia and the Chinese genus Handeliodendron are also sometimes included in this family...
in the Sapindaceae. Recent research (Harrington et al. 2005) has shown that while both Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae are monophyletic in themselves, their removal from
SapindaceaeSapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee....
sensu lato would leave Sapindaceae
sensu stricto as a
paraphyleticIn phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if the group contains its most recent common ancestor but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor.- Relation to monophyletic groups :...
group, particularly with reference to the genus
XanthocerasXanthoceras sorbifolium , the sole species in the genus Xanthoceras, is a flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to northern China in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Monggol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Shandong.It is a large shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall...
.