Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao, and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ornamentals, such as Alcea (hollyhock), Malva (mallow), and Tilia. The genera with the largest numbers of species include Hibiscus, Pavonia, Sida, Ayenia, Dombeya, and Sterculia.
Euonymus is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. Common names vary widely among different species and between different English-speaking countries, but include spindle, burning-bush, strawberry-bush, wahoo, wintercreeper, or simply euonymus. It comprises about 130 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, small trees and lianas. They are mostly native to East Asia, extending to the Himalayas, and they are also distributed in Europe, Australasia, North America, and Madagascar. 50 species are endemic to China.
A liana is a long-stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word liana does not refer to a taxonomic grouping, but rather a habit of plant growth – much like tree or shrub. It comes from standard French liane, itself from an Antilles French dialect word meaning to sheave.
Hawaiian hibiscus are seven species of hibiscus native to Hawaii. The yellow hibiscus is Hawaii's state flower. Most commonly grown as ornamental plants in the Hawaiian Islands are the non-native Chinese hibiscus and its numerous hybrids, though the native Hibiscus arnottianus is occasionally planted.
The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, Combretum imberbe. Three genera, Conocarpus, Laguncularia, and Lumnitzera, grow in mangrove habitats (mangals). The Combretaceae are widespread in the subtropics and tropics. Some members of this family produce useful construction timber, such as idigbo from Terminalia ivorensis. The commonly cultivated Quisqualis indica is now placed in the genus Combretum. Many plants in the former Quisqualis genus contain the excitotoxin quisqualic acid, a potent AMPA agonist.
Strychnos is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae. The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely distributed around the world's tropics and is noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of various species. Among these alkaloids are the well-known and virulent poisons strychnine and curare.
Linaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family is cosmopolitan, and includes about 250 species in 14 genera, classified into two subfamilies: the Linoideae and Hugonioideae. Leaves of the Linaceae are always simple; arrangement varies from alternate to opposite or whorled. The hermaphroditic, actinomorphic flowers are pentameric or, very rarely, tetrameric.
Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus Sterculia. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae.
Hibiscadelphus distans is an extremely rare species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae, that is endemic to the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaii. It is known as hau kuahiwi in Hawaiian, which means "upland Hibiscus tiliaceus." It is a bush or small tree with heart-shaped leaves and yellow flowers and grows at between 1,000 and 1,800 feet in the remnants of native dry forests. Despite its rarity, it is believed to be the only surviving species in the genus Hibiscadelphus which is only known from Hawaii, the other five species having recently become extinct in the wild, some being known from only a single plant.
Hiptage benghalensis, often simply called hiptage, is a perennial, evergreen liana native to India, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Its habitat is variable and prefers climates ranging from warm temperate to tropical. In Hawaii, where H. benghalensis is considered a weed, as it is in Australia, Mauritius and Réunion, it grows from sea level to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). H. benghalensis is cultivated for its white-pink scented flowers.
Ayenia asplundii is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, from sea level to 2,000 meters elevation.
Ayenia flexuosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It a shrub or tree found only in Ecuador. Its natural habitat is tropical moist montane forests from 2,500 to 3,000 meters elevation.
Ayenia loxensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is found only in Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
Ayenia minytricha is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to Ecuador and western Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests from 1,000 to 1,500 meters elevation.
Ayenia obtusata is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is found only in Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests from 200 to 2,800 meters elevation.
Wissadula is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains 25 to 30 species of herbs and subshrubs that are mostly native to the Neotropics, with several in tropical Asia and Africa. The name is derived from the Sinhala language.
Waltheria indica is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is believed to have originated in the Neotropics. Common names include sleepy morning, basora prieta, hierba de soldado, guimauve, mauve-gris, moto-branco, fulutafu, kafaki, and ʻuhaloa (Hawaii). W. indica is a short-lived subshrub or shrub, reaching a height of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a stem diameter of 2 cm (0.79 in). It is most common in dry, disturbed or well-drained, moist habitats. In Puerto Rico, it grows in areas that receive 750–1,800 mm (30–71 in) of annual rainfall and at elevations from sea level to more 400 m (1,300 ft).
Byttnerioideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Malvaceae.
Barbara Ann Whitlock is a botanist, who earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, with her dissertation Systematics and evolution of chocolate and its relatives c. 2000, an interest which continues.
Goethalsia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. It only contains one species, Goethalsia meiantha(Donn.Sm.) Burret It is within the Grewioideae tribe.
