Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name Caesalpinia. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae are mainly trees distributed in the moist tropics, but include such temperate species as the honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos) and Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus). It has the following clade-based definition: "The most inclusive crown clade containing Arcoa gonavensis Urb. and Mimosa pudica L., but not Bobgunnia fistuloides (Harms) J. H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema, Duparquetia orchidacea Baill. , or Poeppigia procera C.Presl" In some classifications, for example the Cronquist system, the group is recognized at the rank of family, Caesalpiniaceae.

Characteristics

Taxonomy

Phylogenetics

Caesalpinioideae, as it was traditionally circumscribed, was paraphyletic. Several molecular phylogenies in the early 2000s showed that the other two subfamilies of Fabaceae (Faboideae and Mimosoideae) were both nested within Caesalpinioideae. Consequently, the subfamilies of Fabaceae were reorganized to make them monophyletic. Caesalpinioideae, as currently defined, contains the following subclades: