Sapindaceae

Sapindaceae, a large order of Dicotyledons, mostly trees and shrubs and chiefly tropical, though the maples and some others extend into temperate regions in the northern hemisphere. The leaves Vary, being either scattered or opposite, and simple, pinnate, or palmate. There are four or five sepals; as many petals; twice as many, or seven or eight, stamens; a prominent hypogynous disk; and an ovary of several one- or two-seeded chambers. The fruit is various, including the fleshy dehiscent capsule of the horse-chestnut and buck-eyes, and the double samaras of the maples. The seeds may be exalbuminous or albuminous, and the soap-nut (Sapindus), from which the order takes its name, is specially remarkable for its saponaceous character. Even the seeds of the horse-chestnut produce a slight lather with water. [HORSE-CHESTNUT, MAPLE, SYCAMORE, ETC.]