From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Family of plants commonly known as the Mahogany family
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
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:
Azadirachta indica , neem tree (India)
Carapa : includes the "crabwood trees" e.g. Carapa procera (South America and Africa)
Cedrela odorata Central and South America; timber also known as Spanish-cedar
Entandrophragma : includes
sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum ), and "utile" or "sipo" (
E. utile ) of tropical Africa
Guarea , the genus of Bossé or "pink mahogany", includes:
G. thompsonii and
G. cedrata (Africa)
Khaya includes:
Ivory Coast Mahogany and
Senegal Mahogany (tropical Africa)
Lansium domesticum , lanzones, grown for its edible fruit in
Southeast Asia
Melia azedarach , Chinaberry or white cedar (
Indomalaya and
Australasia )
Sandoricum koetjape , santol, grown for its edible fruit in
Southeast Asia and
South Asia
Swietenia is the classic "mahogany" genus from the tropical
Americas
Toona : the genus of "toon tree" species (tropical
Asia ,
Malesia , and
Australia ), especially
Toona ciliata
58 genera are currently accepted.
[6]
Chinese rice flower (
Aglaia odorata )
The family is divided into two subfamilies, Cedreloideae and Melioideae, which are supported by phylogenetic evidence.
[7]
This is also known as subfamily Swietenioideae.
[8]
[9]
tribe
Cedreleae
[8]
other tribes and genera:
tribe:
Aglaieae
- related genera:
tribe: Guareeae
[10] - Africa
tribe: Melieae
tribe: Sandoriceae
tribe: Turraeeae
- related genera:
tribe: Trichilieae
- related genera:
tribe: Vavaeeae
tribe unassigned:
^ 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 .
^ Of a
gynoecium , made up of united carpels
^ 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 .
Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-14 .
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^
Meliaceae Juss.
Archived 2023-12-12 at the
Wayback Machine
Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
^ 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
^
a
b 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 .
^
"Missouri Botanic Garden: list of Meliaceae genera (retrieved 18 January 2018)" .
Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2018 .
^
"Koenen E (2011) Phylogenetic and biogeographic studies in Guareeae (Meliaceae: Melioideae) - (retrieved 18 January 2018)" .
Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2018 .
^ Koenen E (2011) ibid.
Pennington, T.D. & Styles, B.T. (1975): A generic monograph of the Meliaceae. Blumea 22 : 419–540.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Meliaceae .