Xanthoceras

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Xanthoceras' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/xanthoceras/). Accessed 2025-04-27.

Family

Sapindaceae

Species in genus

Xanthoceras sorbifolium

Glossary

stigma: (in a flower) The part of the carpel that receives pollen and on which it germinates. May be at the tip of a short or long style or may be reduced to a stigmatic surface at the apex of the ovary.
alternate: Attached singly along the axis not in pairs or whorls.
capsule: Dry dehiscent fruit; formed from syncarpous ovary.
family: A group of genera more closely related to each other than to genera in other families. Names of families are identified by the suffix ‘-aceae’ (e.g. Myrtaceae) with a few traditional exceptions (e.g. Leguminosae).
imparipinnate: Odd-pinnate; (of a compound leaf) with a central rachis and an uneven number of leaflets due to the presence of a terminal leaflet. (Cf. paripinnate.)

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Xanthoceras' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/xanthoceras/). Accessed 2025-04-27.

The discovery of a rare and mature plant like this Xanthoceras sorbifolium is always a moment of great excitement! This unfortunately-pruned specimen can be observed in Cournon-d'Auvergne, not far from Clermont-Ferrand, France. 15th April 2019. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

The beautiful and interesting species described below is the only member of its genus, and one of the few hardy members of the Sapindaceae. Leaves odd-pinnate, alternate. Flowers regular, unusually large for this family. Sepals and petals five. Stamens eight. Stigma three-lobed. Fruit a leathery, thick-walled capsule, containing several large seeds. The generic name (from the Greek words for yellow and horn) refers to the long horn-like appendages of the floral disk.