Fagaceae

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iBeech family

Holm Oak (Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Fagaceae Dumortier

Genera

Castanea - Chestnuts
Castanopsis
Chrysolepis - Golden chinkapin
Colombobalanus
Cyclobalanopsis
Fagus - Beeches
Formanodendron
Lithocarpus - Stone oaks
Nothofagus - Southern beeches
Quercus - Oaks
Trigonobalanus

The family Fagaceae, or beech family, is characterized by alternate leaves with pinnate venation, flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of nuts, one to seven in a scale or spiny husk that may or may not enclose the nut. The best-known group of this family is the oaks, genus Quercus, the fruit of which is called an acorn. The husk of the acorn in most oaks only forms a cup in which the nut sits.

[edit] Genera

Castanea - Chestnuts; eight species, north temperate east Asia, southwest Asia, southeast Europe, eastern North America
Castanopsis - about 125-130 species, southeast Asia
Chrysolepis - Golden chinkapin; two species, western USA
Colombobalanus - one species C. excelsa, northern South America, often included in Trigonobalanus
Cyclobalanopsis - about 150 species, southeast Asia
Fagus - Beeches; 10 species, north temperate east Asia, southwest Asia, Europe, eastern North America
Formanodendron - one species F. doichangensis, southeast Asia, often included in Trigonobalanus
Lithocarpus - Tanoaks or Stone oaks; about 330-340 species, all but one in warm temperate to tropical Asia, the one (L. densiflorus) in California and southwest Oregon
Quercus - Oaks; about 500 species, widespread Northern Hemisphere, crossing the equator in Indonesia
Trigonobalanus - one species T. verticillata, tropical southeast Asia (three species if Colombobalanus and Formanodendron included)

The genus Nothofagus (Southern beeches; about 35 species from the Southern Hemisphere), formerly included in the Fagaceae, is now treated in the separate family Nothofagaceae.