Belongs within: Sapindales.
Contains: Guareeae.
The Meliaceae are a pantropical family of trees. Some members of the family are significant timber trees such as species of Cedrela (toon) and Swietenia (mahogany). Species of Swietenia are native to the Neotropics but have become widely grown commercially in southern Asia and Fiji as populations declined significantly in their native range. The Cape lilac or white cedar Melia azedarach is an Indo-Australian native that is widely grown as an ornamental or for timber.
Molecular data supports division of the Meliaceae into the subfamilies Cedreloideae and Melioideae. The Cedreloideae have the fruit a septifragal capsule with the seeds usually being winged, whereas the Melioideae usually have the fruit a loculicidal capsule and the seeds with an aril or sarcotesta (Angiosperm Phylogeny Website). Members of the tribe Cedreleae, including the genera Cedrela and Toona, are distinguished from other Cedreloideae by having anther filaments free rather than fused. Xylocarpeae have filaments fused into a tube and the seeds lack a wing.
Characters (from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website): Trees; bark often rather bitter; secretory cells with resin, etc. present; nodes 5:5; plants often dioecious, but flowers apparently perfect, (3-)5(-8)-merous; calyx often connate, androecium 2x corolla, connate (occasionally 5-30 in a single whorl); gynoecium postgenitally united, opposite corolla, style-head discoid or capitate (occasionally more or less lobed), stigma wet; ovules with outer integument 2-5 cells across, inner integument 2-4 cells across, placental obturator common; archesporium often multicellular; seeds often pachychalazal, coat vascularised, testa undistinguished but thick, endotesta crystalliferous.
<==Meliaceae [Meliales]
| i. s.: CarapoxylonMS06
| EntandrophragmaMS06
| ChisochetonoxylonMS06
| Paratrichilioxylon russellii Koeniguer 1971 [=P. russelli]CBH93
| Psilastephanocolporites grandisCBH93
| Soymida febrifugaM72
|--Cedreloideae [Swietenieae, Swietenioideae]MS06
| |--+--Schmardaea microphyllaMS06
| | `--Chukrasia tabularisMS06
| `--+--CedreleaeMS06
| | |--CedrelaMS06
| | | |--C. australisH42
| | | |--C. odorataMS06
| | | `--C. toonaM90
| | `--ToonaMS06
| | |--T. australisC70
| | |--T. ciliataF04
| | `--T. sulcataMS06
| `--+--KhayaMS06
| | |--K. anthothecaMS06
| | `--K. senegalensisLK14
| `--+--XylocarpeaeMS06
| | |--CarapaMS06
| | | |--C. guianensisMS06
| | | |--C. moluccensisH09
| | | `--C. proceraEB17
| | `--XylocarpusMS06
| | |--X. granatum Koenig 1784HS14
| | |--X. mekongensisMS06
| | `--X. moluccensis (Lamarck) Roemer 1846HS14
| `--+--SwieteniaMS06
| | |--S. humilisBT87
| | |--S. macrophyllaMS06
| | `--S. mahoganiB06
| `--+--Pseudocedrela kotschyiMS06
| `--+--Lovoa swynnertoniiMS06
| `--Capuronianthus [Capuronianthoideae]MS06
| `--C. mahafalensisMS06
`--Melioideae [Trichilieae]MS06
|--+--OweniaMS06
| | |--O. acidulaM99
| | |--O. reticulataLK14
| | |--O. venosaB00
| | `--O. vernicosaMS06
| `--MelieaeMS06
| |--Azadirachta indicaMS06
| `--MeliaMS06
| |--M. azadirachtaM90
| |--M. azedarachMS06 [incl. M. azedarach var. subtripinnataLO98]
| `--M. compositaK73
`--+--AstrotrichiliaMS06
`--+--+--Sandoricum [Sandoriceae]MS06
| | |--S. indicumT-W89
| | `--S. koetjapeMS06
| `--+--EkebergiaMS06
| | |--E. capensisMS06
| | `--E. senegalensis [incl. Sorindeia doeringii Engler & Krause 1911]EB17
| `--Quivisianthe [Quivisianthoideae]MS06
| `--Q. papinaeMS06
`--+--WalsuraMS06
| |--W. piscidaA78
| `--W. tubulataMS06
`--+--Vavaea [Vavaeeae]MS06
| `--V. amicorumMS06
`--+--GuareeaeMS06
`--+--+--Cipadessa bacciferaMS06
| `--Pseudoclausena chrysogyneMS06
`--+--Munronia pinnataMS06
`--+--+--Pseudobersama mosambicensisMS06
| `--TrichiliaMS06
| |--T. dregeanaQLB05
| |--T. emeticaMS06
| |--T. havanensisJ87
| `--T. micranthaRC02
`--+--+--Lepidotrichilia volkensiiMS06
| `--Malleastrum mandanenseMS06
`--TurraeeaeMS06
|--Nymania capensisMS06
`--+--Naregamia alata [=Turraea alata]MS06
`--+--Calodecaryia crassifoliaMS06
`--+--HumbertioturraeaMS06
`--TurraeaMS06
|--T. pubescensLK14
`--T. sericeaMS06
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A78] Ananthakrishnan, T. N. 1978. Thrips galls and gall thrips. Zoological Survey of India, Technical Monograph 1: 1–69, 26 pls.
[BT87] Baker, E. W., & D. M. Tuttle. 1987. The false spider mites of Mexico (Tenuipalpidae: Acari). United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin 1706: 1–237.
[B06] Biswas, A. 2006. Pteridophytes of Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 48: 175–188.
[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 1. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).
[CBH93] Collinson, M. E., M. C. Boulter & P. L. Holmes. 1993. Magnoliophyta (‘Angiospermae’). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 809–841. Chapman & Hall: London.
[C70] Common, I. F. B. 1970. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 765–866. Melbourne University Press.
[EB17] Engler, A., & W. v. Brehmer. 1917. Anacardiaceae africanae. VI. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 54: 309–328.
[F04] Ferrar, P. 2004. Australian entomology: isolated, or in touch with the rest of the world? Australian Journal of Entomology 43 (3): 329–333.
[H09] Hedley, C. 1909. The Marine Fauna of Queensland: Address by the President of Section D. Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science: Brisbane.
[H42] Hill, G. F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region (including Australia, New Guinea and islands south of the Equator between 140°E. longitude and 170°W. longitude). Commonwealth of Australia Council for Scientific and Industrial Research: Melbourne.
[HS14] Huisman, J. M., & A. Sampey. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: marine plants. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 84: 45–67.
[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.
[K73] Krishnan, M. 1973. An ecological survey of the larger mammals of peninsular India (continued). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (3): 469–501.
[LO98] Lack, H. W., & H. Ohba. 1998. Die Xylothek des Chikusai Kato. Willdenowia 28: 263–276.
[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.
[M90] Maiden, J. H. 1890. On cedar gum (Cedrela australis, F.v.M.). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 4 (4): 1047–1049.
[M99] Matthews, M. 1999. Heliothine Moths of Australia: A guide to bollworms and related noctuid groups. CSIRO Publishing.
[M72] Mitra, S. N. 1972. Observations on the vegetation of the Upper Damodar catchment area. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (1): 17–25.
[MS06] Muellner, A. N., V. Savolainen, R. Samuel & M. W. Chase. 2006. The mahogany family “out-of-Africa”: divergence time estimation, global biogeographic patterns inferred from plastid rbcL DNA sequences, extant, and fossil distribution of diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (1): 236–250.
[QLB05] Quicke, D. L. J., N. M. Laurenne & M. Barclay. 2005. A new host record for the Afrotropical parasitic wasp genus Bathyaulax Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) confirmed using DNA sequence data. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 14 (1): 96–101.
[RC02] Rasmussen, P. C., & N. J. Collar. 2002. Family Bucconidae (puffbirds). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 7. Jacamars to Woodpeckers pp. 102–138. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.
[T-W89] Tenison-Woods, J. E. 1889. On the vegetation of Malaysia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 4 (1): 9–106, pls 1–9.