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.

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
• Nothofagus - Southern beeches; about 35 species, southern South America, New Zealand, southeast Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea. Now treated as being in the separate family Nothofagaceae.
• 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 is sometimes placed in a separate family, Nothofagaceae.

More on [ Fagaceae ]

PLoS Medicine: New Articles

Towards a Data Sharing Culture: Recommendations for Leadership from Academic Health Centers
Rebecca Crowley and colleagues propose that academic health centers can and should lead the transition towards a culture of biomedical data sharing.
Key Issues in Conducting a Meta-Analysis of Gene Expression Microarray Datasets
Adaikalavan Ramasamy and colleagues outline seven key issues and suggest a stepwise approach in conducting a meta-analysis of microarray datasets.
Revision Rates after Primary Hip and Knee Replacement in England between 2003 and 2006
Jan van der Meulen and colleagues show that about one in 75 patients with a primary hip or knee replacement needed a revision of their prosthesis within 3 years.

EurekAlert! - Biology

New once-a-week treatment for type 2 diabetes developed by Mount Sinai researcher
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute) In a study published by the Lancet journal today, Toronto researcher Dr. Daniel Drucker reported that a new once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes could replace the more common twice-daily injection.
Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Society for General Microbiology) Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas, microbiologists heard today (Monday Sept. 8, 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.
Milk may help bacteria survive against low levels of antibiotics
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Society for General Microbiology) Milk may help prevent potentially dangerous bacteria like Staphylococcus from being killed by antibiotics used to treat animals, scientists heard today (Monday Sept. 8, 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

Subscribe to Biology RSS feed