mahogany family

Family Meliaceae (order Sapindales), composed of 575 species in 51 genera of trees and (rarely) shrubs native to tropical and subtropical regions. Trees of the genus and , commonly called mahogany, and of the genus (especially the cigar-box cedar, ) are economically important timber trees. The China tree (), also called chinaberry, bead tree, and Persian lilac, is an ornamental Asian tree with fragrant, lilac-coloured flowers and attractive but poisonous round yellow fruits, often cultivated in tropical and warm temperate areas. Most members of the family have large compound leaves and branched flower clusters. A few have edible fruits.

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