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Allophyllus flexifolia Fossil Leaf SITE LOCATION: Parachute Creek Member-Green River Shale of Garfield County, Colorado TIME PERIOD: Eocene (56 to 33.9 million years ago) Data: Allophylus is a genus within the plant family Sapindaceae. The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species, including maple, ackee, horse chestnut and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world. Many are laticiferous, i.e. they contain latex, a milky sap, and many contain mildly toxic saponins with soap-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots. The largest genera are Serjania, Paullinia, Acer and Allophylus. The largely temperate genera formerly separated in the families Aceraceae (Acer, Dipteronia) and Hippocastanaceae (Aesculus, Billia, Handeliodendron) were included within a more broadly circumscribed Sapindaceae by the APG. Recent research has confirmed the inclusion of these genera in Sapindaceae. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Angiosperms Class: Eudicots - Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Sapindaceae Genus: Allophylus Species: flexifolia