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
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:
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
Genera
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]
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
^ 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.
References
Pennington, T.D. & Styles, B.T. (1975): A generic monograph of the Meliaceae. Blumea 22 : 419–540.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Meliaceae .