Aceraceae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Acer L. |
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Acer L. - Maple |
The Aceraceae (Maple family) comprises between 120-150 species of trees and shrubs. A common character is that the leaves are opposite. The most important genus is Acer, containing all but two of the species. The remaining two are in Dipteronia.
As they are closely related to the Sapindaceae, several taxonomists (including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) group the Aceraceae and the Hippocastanaceae in that family. Recent research (Harrington et al. 2005) has affirmed the inclusion of these families in Sapindaceae.
[edit] References
- Harrington, M. G., K. J. Edwards, S. A. Johnson, M. W. Chase, and P. A. Gadek. 2005. Phylogenetic inference in sapindaceae sensu lato using plastid matK and rbcL DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 30: 366-382 (abstract here).
- Aceraceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.
