Malvaceae

Malvaceae [mal′vās·ē‚ē]

(botany)

A family of herbaceous dicotyledons in the order Malvales characterized by imbricate or contorted petals, mostly unilocular anthers, and minutely spiny, multiporate pollen.

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Malvaceae 

a family of dicotyledonous plants including herbs, shrubs, or, rarely, small trees. The leaves are alternate, simple, or more or less lobed, entire and stipulate. The flowers, which are often large, regular, and usually bisexual, are solitary or in inflorescences. The calyx and the corolla are generally five-parted; in many species the epicalyx is developed. There are usually numerous stamens arranged in two rings. The fruit is generally a capsule or a schizocarp that breaks into two monospermous lobes. Many Malvaceae are covered with stellate hairs.

There are approximately 90 genera, embracing 1,600 species (according to other data, 2,350), distributed primarily in the tropics and subtropics. Eleven genera, with about 75 species, are found in the USSR. The Malvaceae include cotton—the most important industrial crop—and such bast-fiber plants as kenaf and flowering maple. The family contains many medicinal plants {Althaea, Malva) and ornamentals (Hibiscus, Lavatera).

REFERENCES

Il’in, M. M. “Mal’vovye — Malvaceae Juss.” In Flora SSSR, vol. 15. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.
Hutchinson, J. The Genera of Flowering Plants, vol. 2. Oxford, 1967.