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.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

durian

durian

The very large football-sized spikey prehistoric-looking fruit can weight up to 10 lbs (4.5kg) and has been known to kill people falling from the tree. It’s said they fall mainly at night when people aren’t around. The tropical tree is very large- 75-150 ft tall (25-75m). They begin fruiting after 4-5 years and can bear fruit twice a year. People either love or hate the fruit. On one side, it can smell like rotten eggs because of it’s high sulfur content (which is great for youthful skin). This strong odor brings forth vile disgust in many people. But others love the fruit because it’s sweet dessert-like inner flesh looks and tastes like custard, flan or creme brulee, and is quite popular as an aphrodisiac. Very high in tryptophan, which makes people feel good and relax. Also high in protein, sugar, healthy fats and carbs for energy. Each durian has 5 segments which can break open by hand when ripe. Each segment has a soft mass of custard-like flesh with a nut inside. This can be eaten raw or dehydrated or mixed into a pudding in a blender. Nut is also edible. Durian fruit looks similar to Jackfruit on the outside, but isn’t related.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

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.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.