Malvaceae Also called as Mallow family is a dicotyledonous family comprising about 82 genera and 1500 species, distributed
almost throughout the world and particularly abundant in tropics.
In India, this family is represented by 25 genera and about 110 species. These include Annual or perennial herbs to shrubs or small trees.
Some important floral characters of the family are:
Plant parts often mucilaginous, leaves stipulated, young stem/ branches often with stellate trichomes
Flowers axillary, solitary, or in fascicles, racemes or panicles, actinomorphic, usually bisexual, pentamerous.
Calyx, free or connate, valvate aestivation
Corolla free, adnate at the base to the staminal tube and falling off with it, twisted; petals 5.
Stamens usually numerous, monadelphous to form staminal tube which at apex divided into numerous filaments
Carpels 1 to many, usually in a single whorl, placentation axile; style usually branched into as many as the number of carpels or
sometimes twice the number of carpels
Fruit a dry capsule or schizocarp, rarely baccate, usually dehiscent.
Seeds with a little endosperm
Genera represented in India include Hibiscus, Pavonia, Thespesia, Kydia, Gossypium, Alcea, Malva, Abutilon, Malvastrum,
Malvaviscus, Sida, Urena, Abelmoschus, Sidastrum,Herissantia, Wissadula, Modiola, Anoda, Decaschistia, Nayariophyton, Fioria,
Senra, Lavatera, Althaea and Malachra
Hibiscus and pavonia are large sp represented by about 300 sp and 200 sp worldwide
Some important Plant include Gossypium sp (Cotton yielding), Abelmoschus esculentus (Vegetable) Thespesia populnea
(Avenue Tree), Hibiscus sp, Alcea rosea (Ornamental) etc.
Thanks
http://www.flowersofindia.in/risearch/search.php?query=malvaceae&stpos=0&stype=AND
http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxmlv.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360675/Malvaceae
http://satishphadke.blogspot.com/2008/09/malvaceae.html
http://www.preservearticles.com/201101123092/characteristics-of-the-family-malvaceae.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45835639@N04/sets/72157626405123292/detail/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvaceae
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/malv.htm
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/family/?q=malvaceae&o=plants
http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Malvaceae/
http://www.robsplants.com/family.php?ceae=malvaceae
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/b/Malvaceae/none/none/cultivar/0/
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel