Malvaceae
Malvaceae | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Least mallow, Malva parviflora | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malvales |
Family: | Malvaceae Juss.[1] |
Subfamilies | |
Synonyms[2] | |
|
Malvaceae (/mælˈveɪsiˌaɪ, -siːˌiː/), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species.[3][4] Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ornamentals, such as Alcea (hollyhock), Malva (mallow), and Tilia (lime or linden tree). The largest genera in terms of number of species include Hibiscus (300 species), Sterculia (250 species), Dombeya (250 species), Pavonia (200 species) and Sida (200 species).[5]
Taxonomy and nomenclature


The circumscription of the Malvaceae is controversial. The traditional Malvaceae
Subfamilies
This article is based on the second circumscription, as presented by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.[4] The Malvaceae s.l. (hereafter simply "Malvaceae") comprise nine subfamilies. A tentative cladogram of the family is shown below. The diamond denotes a poorly supported branching (<80%).
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Until recently, relationships between these subfamilies were either poorly supported or almost completely obscure. Continuing disagreements focused primarily on the correct circumscription of these subfamilies, including the preservation of the family Bombacaceae.[6] A study published in 2021 presented a fully resolved phylogenetic framework for Malvaceae s.l. using genomic data for all nine subfamilies.[7]
Regarding the traditional Malvaceae s.s., the subfamily Malvoideae approximately corresponds to that group.
Synapomorphies
The relationships between the "core Malvales" families used to be defined on the basis of shared "malvean affinities". These included the presence of malvoid teeth, stems with mucilage canals, and stratified wedge-shaped phloem.[8] These affinities were problematic because they were not always shared within the core families.[9] Later studies revealed more unambiguous synapomorphies within Malvaceae s.l.. Synapomorphies identified within Malvaceae s.l. include the presence of tile cells, trichomatous nectaries, and an inflorescence structure called a bicolor unit.[10] Tile cells consist of vertically positioned cells interspersed between and dimensionally similar to procumbent ray cells. Evidence of Malvean wood fossils has confirmed their evolutionary link in Malvaceae s.l., as well as explained their diverse structures.[11] Flowers of Malvaceae s.l. exhibit nectaries consisting of densely arranged multicellular hairs resembling trichomes. In most of Malvaceae s.l., these trichomatous nectaries are located on the inner surface of the sepals, but flowers of the subfamily Tiliodeae also have present nectaries on the petals.[12] Malvean flowers also share a unifying structure known as a bicolor unit, named for its initial discovery in the flowers of Theobroma bicolor. The bicolor unit consists of an ordered inflorescence with determinate cymose structures. The inflorescence can branch off the main axis, creating separate orders of the flowers, with the main axis developing first. Bracts on the peduncle subtend axillary buds that become these lateral stalks. One bract within this whorl is a sterile bract. The bicolor unit is a variable structure in complexity, but the presence of fertile and sterile bracts is a salient characteristic.[13]
Names
The English common name 'mallow' (also applied to other members of Malvaceae) comes from Latin
Description

Most species are herbaceous plants or shrubs, but some are trees or lianas.
Leaves and stems
Leaves are generally alternate, often palmately lobed or compound and palmately veined. The margin may be entire, but when dentate, a vein ends at the tip of each tooth (malvoid teeth). Stipules are present. The stems contain mucous canals and often also mucous cavities. Hairs are common, and are most typically stellate.[citation needed] Stems of Bombacoideae are often covered in thick prickles.[16]
Flowers

The flowers are commonly borne in definite or indefinite axillary
Fruits

The fruits are most often
.Pollination
Self-pollination is often avoided by means of
Importance
A number of species are pests in
See also
- Florissantia, an extinct Cenozoic genus in the subfamily Sterculioidea
References
- .
- ^ "Family: Malvaceae". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) [Online Database]. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- .
- ^ a b "Angiosperm Phylogeny Website". Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ISBN 978-0878934072.
- S2CID 41041851.
- PMID 33892500.
- ^ Kubitzki, K. (2003). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
- S2CID 40348158.
- .
- IAWA Bulletin: 23–28 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ .
- ^ S2CID 20889917.
- ^ a b Douglas Harper. "mallow". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Khalid. "Molokheya: an Egyptian National Dish". The Baheyeldin Dynasty. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
- ISBN 9781554072064.
- Baum, D. A.; W. S. Alverson; R. Nyffeler (1998). "A durian by any other name: taxonomy and nomenclature of the core Malvales". Harvard Papers in Botany. 3: 315–330.
- Baum, D. A.; Dewitt Smith, S.; Yen, A.; Alverson, W. S.; Nyffeler, R.; Whitlock, B. A.; Oldham, R. L. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships of Malvatheca (Bombacoideae and Malvoideae; Malvaceae sensu lato) as inferred from plastid DNA sequences". PMID 21652333.
- Bayer, C. (1999). "Support for an expanded family concept of Malvaceae within a recircumscribed order Malvales: a combined analysis of plastidatpB andrbcL DNA sequences". .
- Bayer, C. and K. Kubitzki 2003. Malvaceae, pp. 225–311. In K. Kubitzki (ed.), The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol. 5, Malvales, Capparales and non-betalain Caryophyllales.
- Edlin, H. L. (1935). "A Critical Revision of Certain Taxonomic Groups of the Malvales Part Ii1". .
- Judd, W. S.; Manchester, S. R. (1997). "Circumscription of Malvaceae (Malvales) as Determined by a Preliminary Cladistic Analysis of Morphological, Anatomical, Palynological, and Chemical Characters". S2CID 2887745.
- Maas, P. J. M. and L. Y. Th. Westra. 2005. Neotropical Plant Families (3rd edition).
- Perveen, A.; Grafström, E.; El-Ghazaly, G. (2004). "World Pollen and Spore Flora 23. Malvaceae Adams. P.p. Subfamilies: Grewioideae, Tilioideae, Brownlowioideae". S2CID 84980357.
- Tate, J. A., J. F. Aguilar, S. J. Wagstaff, J. C. La Duke, T. A. Bodo Slotta and B. B. Simpson (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Malveae (Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae) as inferred from ITS sequence data" (PDF). PMID 21652437.).
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (abstract online here Archived 2010-06-26 at the Wayback Machine - Alverson, William S.; Whitlock, Barbara A.; Nyffeler, Reto; Bayer, Clemens; Baum, David A. (1999). "Phylogeny of the core Malvales: evidence from ndhF sequence data". PMID 10523287.
External links

