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Aceraceae were recognized as a family of also called the maple family. They contain two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120 species of and . A common characteristic is that the leaves are phyllotaxis, and the fruit a schizocarp. Aceraceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards), The families of flowering plants.
The maples have long been known to be closely related to the family Sapindaceae. Several taxonomists (including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) now include both the Aceraceae and the Hippocastanaceae in the Sapindaceae. Recent research (Harrington et al. 2005Harrington, M. G., Edwards, K. J., Johnson, S. A., Chase, M. W., & Gadek, P. A. (2005). Phylogenetic inference in Sapindaceae sensu lato using plastid matK and rbcL DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 30: 366-382. Abstract.) has shown that while both Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae are monophyletic in themselves, their removal from Sapindaceae sensu lato would leave Sapindaceae sensu stricto as a paraphyly group, particularly with reference to the genus Xanthoceras.
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