Meliaceae

Juss., 1789 · the mahogany family

Some 53 genera and near 600 species of trees and shrubs, spread through the tropics of both hemispheres and reaching, here and there, into warm temperate country. It is a family long valued for its timber — the true mahoganies among it.

The leaves are alternate and, as a rule, pinnate; the small flowers carry their stamens fused into a tube, the family's surest tell. Besides Trichilia it holds Swietenia (mahogany), Khaya (the African mahoganies), Cedrela, Melia, and Azadirachta — the neem.

Order: Sapindales
Genera: ~53
Species: ~600
Range: Pantropical, to warm temperate
Type: Melia L.