Description:

• Trees, shrubs or suffrutices; dioecious or monoecious, but with occasional bisexual flowers; often with resinous bark; sometimes with watery latex; crushed foliage often with turpentine-like odour
• Leaves usually alternate, rarely opposite or subopposite (Protorhus), simple, 3-foliolate, or imparipinnate, entire to coarsely toothed; stipules 0
• Flowers small, usually regular and male and female similar, mostly in terminal or axillary panicles
• Calyx 4-7-fid or -partite, rarely spathaceous or irregularly ruptured
• Petals 4-7, usually free, rarely connate and adnate to torus
• Disc ± annular, rarely stalked or of separate glands
• Stamens as many as or twice as many as petals, or many; filaments free; anthers 2-thecous,with longitudinal dehiscence
• Ovary superior, (1-)3-5-carpous, 1(2-4)-locular; ovule solitary, adnate to ovary wall, or pendulous from a basal funicle; styles 1-5, free or connate, sometimes lateral; stigmas often capitate
• Fruit usually drupaceous or dry with resinous or oleaginous mesocarp and coriaceous endocarp, sometimes winged
• Seeds erect, horizontal or pendulous with membranous or coriaceous testa; endosperm 0 or rarely present

Nomenclature:

• Anacardiaceae
  • Sonder: 502 (1860) under Terebintaceae
  • Fernandes & Fernandes: 550 (1966)
  • Merxmüller & Schreiber: 1 (1968)
  • Kokwaro: 1 (1986)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 60; species ± 600; chiefly tropical but also Mediterranean, E Asia and America
• Southern Africa: Genera 13 (3 exotic), ± 110 species

References:

• FERNANDES, R. & FERNANDES, A. 1966. Anacardiaceae. Flora zambesiaca 2,2
• KOKWARO, J.O. 1986. Anacardiaceae. Flora of tropical East Africa. Anacardiaceae
• MERXMÜLLER, H. & SCHREIBER, A. 1968. Anacardiaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 74
• SONDER, O.W. 1860. Terebintaceae. Flora capensis 1

Resources:

• Key to Anacardiaceae genera

• Anacardiaceae genera: