THE SYCAMORE / MAPLE FAMILY (Sapindaceae)

The sycamores and maples were previously grouped into a separate family called Aceraceae where they will still be listed in older references, but recent phylogenetic research has resulted in its inclusion into the Soapberry family (Sapindaceae). This reorganisation however results in a family with very few visible common characters so, although technically a sub-group now, I am treating the sycamores and maples separately. (Almost all other members of Sapindaceae are tropical.)

‘Aceraceae’ (old name) is a group of deciduous trees with finely fissured, somewhat corky bark that breaks up into scales with age, revealing brownish-pink underlayers in some species. Leaves are in opposite pairs, palmate with pointed or bluntly pointed lobes. Flowers are bi-sexual or separate-sexed on the same individual plant (monoecious), yellow-green in colour and clustered in pendulous branched stalks. Seeds are in pairs, each winged (samaras) that catch the wind and rotate as they fall, helping them to spread further from the parent tree.

(source: Wikipedia)