Eupteleaceae

plant family
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Eupteleaceae, family of dicotyledonous flowering plants (order Ranunculales) with one genus, Euptelea, and two species of trees or large shrubs. Its members, E. polyandra, native to Japan, and E. pleiosperma, native to southwestern China and to Assam, India, are sometimes grown as ornamentals mainly for their foliage, which is red when young and green at maturity. In the autumn the deciduous leaves turn bright red or yellow.

The members of Eupteleaceae feature simple, alternately arranged, marginally toothed leaves. The bisexual flowers have 6 to 18 pistils (female organs) on short stalks and numerous stamens (male, pollen-producing structures) but no sepals or petals. The clustered fruits are dry samaras (winged single-seeded nuts) with a notch in one side.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.