Malvaceae (family)
Hierarchy classification:
Narrower term/s
Alternative term/s
- hibiscus family
- mallow family
- mallows
Anotations
Scope note:
Family containing 243 genera and at least 4,225 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees, common in the tropics but found in all but the coldest regions. Economically, the most important member of the family is cotton (Gossypium). Several species of Hibiscus produce fibers that are of lesser importance. The green fruits of okra (H. esculentus) are cooked and eaten, and the mucilage secreted in tissues of some species has been used in certain confections and for other purposes. Genera now included in Malvaceae were long thought to be very closely related, but, until DNA studies were done at the end of the 20th century, they were placed in four different families: Malvaceae, Bombacaceae, Tiliaceae, and Sterculiaceae, this group of families alone constituting Malvales for some earlier botanists. DNA evidence has shown that many of the genera in these families are interdigitated, a finding used for including them in a larger, single family rather than maintaining artificial lineages (ones that do not share a common ancestor).