Sapindaceae
Sapindaceae, the soapberry family of flowering plants (order Sapindales), comprising about 145 genera and some 1,925 species. Its members occur mainly in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world and are especially abundant in the American tropics. A number of species produce wood useful for construction, furniture, or fuel. Several are cultivated as ornamentals or shade trees, and many are well known for their edible fruits.
Physical description
Sapindaceae is overwhelmingly composed of woody plants—mostly trees, large shrubs, and lianas (woody climbers). Many have pinnately compound leaves (with the leaflets of each compound leaf arranged along both sides of a central axis). They are rarely palmately compound (the leaflets radiating from the petiole apex) or simple. Leaves are generally alternately arranged along a stem and are only rarely opposite or whorled.
The flowers are largely insect pollinated. They may be borne singly in the axils of the leaves, or they may be arranged in racemes (spikelike clusters that bloom from the base upward), cymose spikes (clusters blooming from the top downward), or panicles (many-branched clusters). The coloured petals and sometimes stamens of many of these flowers make them conspicuous, and many are fragrant. The nectary disk at the base of the pistil (female structure) often secretes an abundance of nectar that is attractive to insects as well. The fruits are commonly fleshy with hard seeds that will pass through the alimentary canals of birds and mammals without harm; dry capsules are also common, and the fruits of maples (Acer species) are winged samaras.
Major genera and species
The largest genera in the family are Serjania (230 species), which occurs from the southern United States to tropical South America and has a main centre of diversity in southeastern Brazil, and Paullinia (220 species) in the American tropics and subtropics. Both are lianas, or vines. Indigenous peoples sometimes crush the leaves and branches of Paullinia, Serjania, and related genera and throw them into pools or small streams to stun fish. The seeds of guarana (Paullinia cupana), a Brazilian and Paraguayan vine, are ground to make a beverage that contains three times as much caffeine as found in a cup of coffee; a stimulating tea used in pre-Columbian South America, guarana became a popular ingredient in energy drinks beginning in the 20th century. The bark of yoco (P. yoco) has similar stimulant properties. Allophylus is a tropical and subtropical genus of shrubs and trees, with anywhere from 1 to 255 species recognized by some botanists.
The fruits of western soapberry (Sapindus saponaria), a tropical American species, contain saponins (chemical substances that produce soapy lather in water) and are used as soap. The genus name Sapindus means “soap of the Indians.”
The family is known for a number of economically important fruits, including lychee (Litchi chinensis), longan (Dimocarpus longan), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), Senegal cherry (Lepisanthes senegalensis) and mamoncillo (Melicoccus bijugatus). Ackee (Blighia sapida), which looks like scrambled eggs when cooked, is the national fruit of Jamaica, where it is widely grown and eaten; it is, however, poisonous if not cooked at the correct stage of ripeness—i.e., after the fruit has opened naturally and is still fresh. Only the fleshy aril around the seed is eaten.
Useful oils are expressed from the seeds of wild prune (Pappea capensis) and Ceylon oak (Schleichera oleosa); the latter is the source of macassar oil, and this species harbours Laccifer lacca, the insect that produces lac, a resinous excretion that is a source of shellac.
A few species of Sapindaceae are grown as ornamentals. Goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata), a small tree from China, Korea, and Japan, is commonly cultivated in temperate regions for its large pyramidal clusters of yellow flowers and conspicuous bladderlike fruits. Balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum), an annual from the tropics and subtropics, is grown for its small balloonlike fruits in many areas, where it sometimes escapes and becomes naturalized. Hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa), a widespread tropical shrub, is cultivated in warmer areas for its colourful foliage. A number of maples are grown as ornamentals and shade trees in temperate areas.
Included within Sapindaceae are the genera from two former families, Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Acer, with about 110 species, consists of maple trees found across the north temperate zone from western North America to Japan. Maple trees form an important component of the deciduous forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. The distribution of the genus dips southward to Guatemala and through Southeast Asia to Malaysia and the Philippines, where species may be abundant in tropical mountain forests. The major centre of distribution for the genus is China, where half the maple species occur; about three-quarters of the species are Asian. There are eight species of Acer with compound leaves that are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Negundo. Another former Aceraceae member is Dipteronia, a genus of central and southern China with two species.
The former Hippocastanaceae had only two genera of trees and shrubs. The horse chestnuts and buckeyes (Aesculus), with about 13 deciduous species, have an interrupted distribution in temperate forests from western and eastern North America (seven species) to the Balkan Peninsula in Europe (one species) and in Asia from India to China and Japan (five species). The two evergreen species of Billia occur as isolated trees in tropical forests from southern Mexico to northern South America.