Order Malvales / Hibiscus & Mallow Flowers

• Malvaceae – Most species are distributed in tropical parts of the world. Still, a few plants grow in temperate regions as well.
• Cistaceae, also called the rock rose family, grow in temperate or warm temperate areas, particularly in the Mediterranean region.
• Muntingiaceae is a small family distributed in the Neotropics.
• Neuradaceae is a small family of annual herbs or rarely perennial. The species of this family grow in desert areas from Africa to India.
• Thymelaeaceae consists of trees, perennial herbs, or lianas that occur worldwide except rarely in icy areas. Thymelaeceae are particularly common in tropical Australia and Africa.
• Sphaerosepalaceae is a small family of deciduous trees that grow in Madagascar.
• Sarcolaenaceae is mainly comprised of evergreen trees only known to grow in Madagascar.
• Dipterocarpaceae flowers are usually evergreen trees that prefer humid lowland tropics but are most concentrated in West Malaysia.
• Cytinaceae is a small family that grows across Mexico to Costa Rico, northern Colombia, the Mediterranean, South Africa, and Madagascar.
• Bixaceae are native to tropical America. One species is widely cultivated in tropical places, including China.

Malvales are usually recognized by the following characteristics:

• Pulvinate, spiral leaves tend to have palmate venation or at least a pair of lateral veins that emerge from the very base of the blade.
• Stellate or fasciculate hairs and their derivatives are also common.
• Usually, the bark is tough and very fibrous due to the stratified phloem.
• Sometimes, the calyxWhat is calyx?A collective term for all the sepals of a flower; the lowermost whorl of floral orgrans (Plural form is calyces). is valvate, while the corollaWhat is corolla?A collective term referring to the petals of a flower. is usually contorted.
• Usually, numerous stamens are present.
• The capsule is muricate or spiny.
• The seeds or inner side of the carpel walls are conspicuously hairy sometimes.

Cistaceae are aromatic shrubs that tend to have the following characteristics:

• Opposite leaves are joined mainly by their broad bases.
• The inner three sepals are much larger than the two outer sepals.
• When the free petals are in a bud, they are crumpled.
• There are numerous stamens.
• The seed coat is mostly gelatinous.
• The endospermis starchy.
• The embryo is almost strongly curved.

Neuradaceae consist of small herbaceous or sub-woody plants that are native to warm areas of the Sahara-Indian desert. They tend to display the following characteristics:

• Small, toothed leaves that do not have stipules.
• White flowers with petals that dry a distinctive shade of purplish color.
• The petals are spreading.
• There are ten stamens and mostly 10 individual and erect styles.
• The fruits are spiny.

Thymelaeaceae have the following distinctive characteristics:

• A highly fibrous bark.
• Usually, entire and opposite leaves do not have stipules.
• The leaves usually have relatively close, parallel venation.
• When the leaves fall off, they leave behind prominent raised scars on the stem.
• The leaf’s indumentum has unicellular hairs and is mostly silky-adpressed.
• In several taxa, there are notably flexible twigs.
• The plants, some of which are very poisonous, usually have an unpleasant smell.
• The flowers are usually arranged in heads.
• A long hypanthium in most species.
• The petals and sepals are either equal in size, or the petals are smaller.

Sphaerosepalaceae are a small family that displays an excellent level of diversity.

Some common characteristics of this family include:

• Broad, intrapetiolar stipules that almost encircle the stem.
• The flowers are primarily 4-merous, and the sepals appear in decussating pairs.
• Single seeded carpels.

Cistaceae consist of aromatic shrubs that grow in broad, sunny areas, usually on a chalky or sandy substrate. They often exhibit the following characteristics:

• Opposite leaves that have broad, even connate bases.
• The inner three sepals are contorted at times, such that the aestivation is extremely quincuncial with two outer sepals that are much smaller than the others.
• Free petals that are crumpled when in the bud and contorted in a direction opposite the three large sepals.
• Numerous stamens are usually sensitive to touch.

Dipterocarpaceae are trees that can be recognized by the following characteristics:

• Usually, two-ranked, coriaceous leaves with strong, parallel secondary veins and scalariform tertiaries are pretty close.
• Often fasciculate or stellate hairs on the leaves.
• The petioles are geniculate.
• Usually, the inflorescences are notably monochasial.
• The small flowers are pointed in the bud and have a notably contorted corolla.
• Commonly the fruits are distinctive and usually have unequal, large sepals surrounding the single-seeded nuts. However, there are other fruit types too.

Cytinaceae are achlorophyllous parasites (that lack chlorophyll). They tend to have the following features:

• Inflorescences are racemose and sometimes capitate such that the individual flowers have a moderate size and can be easily noticed.
• Basally connate perianth that is more or less spreading and exists in a single whorl.
• Extrorse stamens (staminate flowers).
• The style is quite long and extends towards the apex (carpelate flowers).

Muntingiaceae can be recognized by the following characteristics:

• Toothed, two-ranked, leaf blades with asymmetric bases and heteromorphic prophylls similar to stipules.
• Their flowers appear in extra-axillary fascicles.
• Valvate calyx.
• Shortly clawed corolla that is crumpled in the bud.
• Numerous stamens.

Malvaceae are easily recognizable even when they are sterile based on the following features:

• A fibrous bark.
• Stipulate, alternate leaves with toothed margins, ± palmate venation, and indumentum stellate to lepidote.
• Mucilage is also a common trait.
• The flowers and fruits have a combination of characters that make them distinguishable:
• The flowers usually have a valvate, connate calyx with a nectary at the base inside.
• A contorted corolla.
• Usually, numerous stamens that are connate and/or fasciculate.
• The fruit’s inner wall and/or the seed’s surface are usually hairy.

Sarcolaenaceae tend to have the following characteristics:

• The flowers of these plants are distinctive in having a massive “involucre“, sometimes an enclosing bract and an extrastaminal disc.
• Sarcolaena‘s lamina has parallel lines on the underside.
• Stellate hairs.

The Bixaceae has plants that are distinctive in having the following set of characteristics:

• Fibrous bark.
• Canals carrying red or orange exudate.
• Branches that end at the inflorescence.
• Flowers are large and have anthers that spread pollen through terminal pores.
• Leaves with palmate venation, scale-like hairs, and stipules enclose the bud.
• The ovules are produced on the ovary’s walls.
• Spiny capsule.
• The seeds have a pulpy coat.

• Gossypium: Several species hold immense economic importance as it is a Cotton source produced commercially for the textiles industry.
• Edgeworthia, Daphne, and Gnidia: The bark of the plants is used to manufacture the highest quality paper and cordage.
• Hibiscus rosa-sinensis commonly called Chinese Hibiscus, is grown as an ornamental for its large, almost bell-shaped blossoms. The cultivated varieties yield red, white, yellow, or orange flowers.
• Abelmoschus esculentus commonly called Okra- is used as a vegetable and a thickener in food preparation.
• Theobroma cacao: Also called cacao, is cultivated commercially. The plant’s seeds, called cocoa beans, are processed to produce cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate.