What is "betulaceae"

Betulaceae \Betulaceae\ n. 1. a natural family of monoecious trees and shrubs, including the genera Betula; Alnus; Carpinus; Corylus; Ostrya; and Ostryopsis.

Syn: family Betulaceae, birch family.

The birch family, the Betulaceae, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species reaching the Southern Hemisphere in the Andes in South America. Their typical flowers are catkins and often appear before leaves.

In the past, the family was often divided into two families, Betulaceae (Alnus, Betula) and Corylaceae (the rest). Recent treatments, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have described these two groups as subfamilies within an expanded Betulaceae: Betuloideae and Coryloideae. Diagnostically, Betulaceae is very similar to Rosaceae and other rose motif families.