Sapindaceae

What science is finding about Sapindaceae

Every article on Plant News that mentions a member of this family, newest first.

Latest finding

Sugar maple spotting slows as Canada's fall color fades

Sugar maple sightings on iNaturalist dropped from 162 to 124 observations in Canada this week, likely reflecting the tail end of fall foliage season as leaves finish dropping.

Sugar Maple

Sugar maple sightings surge as fall color peaks across Canada

If the maple on your street is turning brilliant red or orange right now, you're seeing exactly what thousands of other...

Sugar Maple phenology / native-plants

Salty water changes which fallen leaves feed stream life

If you live near a coastal creek or tidal stream, the trees you plant along its banks, whether red maple or salt-tolerant...

Red Maple climate-adaptation / native-plants

One fungicide beats litchi's worst fungal disease at every stage

If you grow lychee or know someone who does, downy blight can wipe out a harvest fast, and knowing which spray actually stops...

Lychee crop-improvement / plant-signaling

Warmer springs make some trees end their growing season sooner

If you've noticed the maples or lindens on your street coloring up earlier some years, this research suggests the culprit may...

Norway Maple phenology / climate-adaptation

Laser-punched plastic wrap keeps lychees fresh longer without cold storage

That bin of lychees at the market often browns and dries out within days of leaving the tree, and this packaging trick could...

Lychee food-forest / climate-adaptation

This scrappy shrub's folk remedies hold up in the lab

If you've ever spotted a tough, sticky-leaved shrub thriving in poor soil along a roadside or dry hillside, there's a decent...

Dodonaea viscosa medicinal-plants / ethnobotany

Common weedy shrub packs a surprising medicine cabinet of compounds

If you've spotted a scrubby, sticky-leaved shrub along a dry roadside or hillside, you may be looking at a plant traditional...

Dodonaea viscosa medicinal-plants / ethnobotany

Some city trees quietly soak up heavy metal pollution from soil

That scraggly street tree outside your window might be doing double duty as a pollution gauge, since certain species pull far...

Lychee phytoremediation / urban-ecology

Shade limits understory trees far more than weather does

Shade-tolerant trees you plant beneath a canopy, like hornbeam or field maple, won't respond to a warm spell the way...

Field Maple forest-ecology / phenology

Forest soil chemistry, not nitrogen pollution, drives toxic compound buildup

The forest floor beneath sugar maples, firs, and spruces acts as the primary filter catching airborne toxic compounds before...

Sugar Maple soil-health / phytoremediation

Temporal dynamics of nutrient elements in biochar and biochar-amended soils over three years: a comparative micro-XRF and SEM-EDX study.

If you've ever added charcoal or biochar to your garden beds hoping for a quick nutrient boost, this research reveals the soil...

Longan soil-health / composting

Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) observed in The Hammocks, FL, USA

Tuckeroo has established itself in South Florida natural areas like The Hammocks, where it can outcompete native vegetation...

Tuckeroo invasive-species / urban-ecology

box elder (Acer negundo) observed in Western Ave, Green Bay, WI, US

Box elder is one of the few native trees that colonizes disturbed urban edges and floodplains where almost nothing else will...

Box Elder urban-ecology / native-plants

Comprehensive genomic analysis reveals the class II diterpene cyclases in Dodonaea viscosa.

Hopbush, a tough drought-tolerant shrub grown in gardens worldwide as a hedge or ornamental, has been a folk remedy across...

Dodonaea viscosa medicinal-plants / ethnobotany

Effect of Acer species (red and Freeman maple) and horse characteristics, management, and location on the in vitro oxidation of equine erythrocytes.

Freeman maples are planted in millions of suburban yards and parks as ornamental shade trees, and if one overhangs a paddock...

Red Maple plant-toxicology / equine-health

box elder (Acer negundo) observed in Bentonville, AR, USA

Citizen science observations like this help track where box elder is spreading or persisting in urban and suburban landscapes,...

Box Elder urban-ecology / phenology

bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) observed in Victoria, BC V8N 6N5, Canada

Community-recorded sightings like this help scientists monitor where native trees like bigleaf maple are thriving, shifting,...

bigleaf maple urban-ecology / phenology