Spermatophyta: Dicotyledonae: Archichlamydeae: Fagales

Fagaceae - Beech family

Description of the family

Monoecious trees and shrubs. Stipules present, caducous. Leaves alternate, simple. Flowers of both sexes with perianth segments. Male flowers in catkins or pendent tassel-like heads; perianth 4-6-lobed; stamens usually twice as many as perianth lobes. Female flowers in groups of 1 or 3, in spikes or at the base of the male inflorescence; each group surrounded at the base by an involucre of scales; perianth 4-6-lobed; ovary 3- or 6-locular; ovules 2 per loculus; styles 3 or 6. Fruit a 1-seeded nut, in clusters of 1-3, enclosed by an accrescent spiny or scaly cupule.

Worldwide: 8 genera and 700 species, cosmopolitan apart from tropical and South Africa

Zambia: 1 cultivated genus and 1 cultivated taxon.

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Links to cultivated genera:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family

GenusContent
Quercus L.Description

Other sources of information about Fagaceae:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Fagaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: Fagaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Fagaceae

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Fagaceae
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Fagaceae
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Fagaceae
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Fagaceae
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Fagaceae
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Fagaceae
JSTOR Plant Science: Fagaceae
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Fagaceae
Wikipedia: Fagaceae
Plants of the World Online: Fagaceae
Tropicos: Fagaceae



Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Cultivated plants: Family page: Fagaceae.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/cult/family.php?family_id=255, retrieved 28 March 2024

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