Hippocastanoideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.[1] The group was formerly treated as the separate families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Molecular phylogenetic research by Harrington et al. (2005)[2] has shown that while both the Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae are monophyletic in themselves, their removal from the Sapindaceae sensu lato would leave Sapindaceae sensu stricto as a paraphyletic group, particularly with reference to the genus Xanthoceras.

Hippocastanoideae
Aesculus hippocastanum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Subfamily: Hippocastanoideae
Dumortier
Genera

The most widespread genera are Acer (the maples) and Aesculus (the horse chestnuts and buckeyes). A feature of the subfamily is the palmate compound leaves.[3]

Genera

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Genus Authority Common Name Number of Living Species Image

Acer

Linnaeus

Maples

160

 
Acer palmatum

Aesculus

Linnaeus

Horse-chestnuts & buckeyes

13-19

 
Aesculus parviflora

Billia

Peyeitsch

2

 
Billia colombiana

Dipteronia

Oliver

2

 
Dipteronia sinensis

Handeliodendron

Rehder

1

References

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  1. ^ "Genera of Sapindaceae subfam. Hippocastanoideae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  2. ^ Harrington, M. G., Edwards, K. J., Johnson, S. A., Chase, M. W., & Gadek, P. A. (2005). Phylogenetic inference in Sapindaceae sensu lato using plastid matK and rbcL DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 30: 366-382. Abstract.
  3. ^ Hippocastanaceae Archived 2006-03-18 at the Wayback Machine in L.Watson and M.J.Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants.

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