Bombacaceae

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Bombax ceiba flower Bombax-flower-leaf.jpg
Bombax ceiba flower

Bombacaceae were long recognised as a family of flowering plants or Angiospermae. The family name was based on the type genus Bombax . As is true for many botanical names, circumscription and status of the taxon has varied with taxonomic point of view, and currently the preference is to transfer most of the erstwhile family Bombacaceae to the subfamily Bombacoideae within the family Malvaceae in the order Malvales. The rest of the family were transferred to other taxa, notably the new family Durionaceae. Irrespective of current taxonomic status, many of the species originally included in the Bombacaceae are of considerable ecological, historical, horticultural, and economic importance, such as balsa, kapok, baobab and durian.

Contents

Current taxonomy

Recent phylogenetic research has shown that Bombacaceae as traditionally circumscribed (including tribe Durioneae) is not a monophyletic group. Bombacaceae is no longer recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group I 1998, II 2003 and Kubitzki system 2003 at the rank of family, the bulk of the taxa in question being treated as subfamilies Bombacoideae and Helicteroideae within family Malvaceae sensu lato. A close relationship between Bombacaceae and Malvaceae has long been recognized but until recently the families have been kept separate in most classification systems, and continue to be separated in many references, including the reference work in classification of flowering plants: Heywood et al. 2007 [1] and Takhtajan 2009, [2] but have been lumped together in Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. [3]

Heywood et al. [1] say "although closely related to Malvaceae, molecular data supports their separation. Only pollen and habit seem to provide a morphological basis for the separation." On the other hand, they say: "One approach is to lump them [the families in the core Malvales, including Bombacaceae] all into a 'super' Malvaceae, recognizing them as subfamilies. The other, taken here, is to recognize each of these ten groups as families."

As circumscribed in its traditional sense, the family Bombacaceae includes around 30 genera (25 genera after Heywood et al. [1] ) with about 250 species of tropical trees, some of considerable girth, so called "bottle trees". Many species grow to become large trees, with Ceiba pentandra the tallest, reaching a height to 70 m. Several of the genera are commercially important, producing timber, edible fruit or useful fibres. The family is noted for some of the softest hardwoods commercially traded, especially balsa, Ochroma lagopus. The fruit of the durian, Durio zibethinus is famous, tasting better than it smells. At one time kapok fibre from the tree Ceiba pentandra was used in making lifebuoys. The baobabs or "bottle trees" (Adansonia spp.) are important icons in certain parts of Africa, Australia and Madagascar, noted for their immensely stout trunk development, a mechanism for enhancing water storage.

Genera

Genera of tribe Durioneae excluded from Bombacaceae after Heywood et al. 2007 and that should be included in Durionaceae
[1]
Genus that should be excluded from Bombacaceae after Heywood et al. 2007 and that be included in Malvaceae s. s. [1]
Genera considered synonym after Kubitzki 2003 [4]
Genus not treated in Kubitzki [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malvales</span> Order of flowering plants

The Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within nine families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malvaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

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.

<i>Adansonia</i> Genus of plants known as baobabs

Adansonia is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs. They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia. The trees have also been introduced to other regions such as Asia. The generic name honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described Adansonia digitata. The baobab is also known as the "upside down tree", a name that originates from several myths. They are among the most long-lived of vascular plants and have large flowers that are reproductive for a maximum of 15 hours. The flowers open around dusk, opening so quickly that movement can be detected by the naked eye, and are faded by the next morning. The fruits are large, oval to round and berry-like and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix.

<i>Bombax</i> Genus of flowering plants

Bombax is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished from the genus Ceiba, which has whiter flowers.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrysobalanaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Chrysobalanaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees and shrubs in 27 genera and about 700 species of pantropical distribution with a centre of diversity in the Amazon. Some of the species contain silica in their bodies for rigidity and so the mesophyll often has sclerenchymatous idioblasts. The widespread species Chrysobalanus icaco produces a plum-like fruit and the plant is commonly known as the coco plum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tilioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Tilioideae is a flowering plant subfamily in the family Malvaceae, though it was formerly considered a large group, placed at family rank and called Tiliaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malvoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Malvoideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, which includes in the minimum the genus Malva. It was first used by Burnett in 1835, but was not much used until recently, where, within the framework of the APG System, which unites the families Malvaceae, Bombacaceae, Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae of the Cronquist system, the aggregate family Malvaceae is divided into 9 subfamilies, including Malvoideae. The Malvoideae of Kubitzki and Bayer includes 4 tribes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombacoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the calyx has 5 sepals united at the base, which are not accompanied by an epicalyx (involucel). The corolla has 5 free petals and an androecium of numerous stamens, typically with free filaments which are not fused in a staminal tube (column). The pollen is smooth and the ovary superior and pluricarpellate. The fruits are schizocarpous or capsular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huerteales</span> Order of flowering plants

Huerteales is the botanical name for an order of flowering plants. It is one of the 17 orders that make up the large eudicot group known as the rosids in the APG III system of plant classification. Within the rosids, it is one of the orders in Malvidae, a group formerly known as eurosids II and now known informally as the malvids. This is true whether Malvidae is circumscribed broadly to include eight orders as in APG III, or more narrowly to include only four orders. Huerteales consists of four small families, Petenaeaceae, Gerrardinaceae, Tapisciaceae, and Dipentodontaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grewioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Grewioideae is a subfamily of the family Malvaceae and was first described by Hochreutiner. The group is named after its type genus, Grewia, which is named for the English scientist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712). It contains a number of genera that were previously placed in the defunct family Tiliaceae.

<i>Grewia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Grewia is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, these were both not monophyletic with respect to other Malvales - as already indicated by the uncertainties surrounding placement of Grewia and similar genera - and have thus been merged into the Malvaceae. Together with the bulk of the former Sparrmanniaceae, Grewia is in the subfamily Grewioideae and therein the tribe Grewieae, of which it is the type genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durian</span> Fruit with thorn-covered rind

The durian is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. There are 30 recognized Durio species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. Durio zibethinus, native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species available on the international market. It has over 300 named varieties in Thailand and 100 in Malaysia as of 1987. Other species are sold in their local regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diembéring</span> City in Ziguinchor, Senegal

Diembéring is a village in Senegal in the rural community of the same name. It is located in Cabrousse, Oussouye, Ziguinchor, Casamance, approximately 10 km north of Cap Skirring and 60 km from Ziguinchor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malveae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

Malveae is a tribe of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae. The tribe circumscribes approximately 70 genera and 1040 species and has the greatest species diversity out the three tribes that make up Malvoideae. The flowers of Malveae are five-merous with a characteristic staminal column, a trait found throughout Malvoideae. Although there are not many economically important species within Malveae, the tribe includes Althaea officinalis, otherwise known as the marsh-mallow.

<i>Pachira</i> Genus of trees

Pachira is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America, Africa and India. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously the genus was assigned to Bombacaceae. Prior to that the genus was found in the Sterculiaceae.

Kapok fibre is a cotton-like plant fibre obtained from the seed pods of a number of trees in the Malvaceae family, which is used for stuffing mattresses and pillows, for padding and cushioning, and as insulation.

Durioneae is a tribe within the subfamily Helicteroideae of the plant family Malvaceae s.l. The tribe contains at least five genera, including Durio, the genus of tree species that produce Durian fruits.

Papuodendron is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. In 1946 Cyril Tenison White described its first species, Papuodendron lepidotum, which was discovered growing in 1944 in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea. Its native range is New Guinea.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heywood, V. H.; Brummitt, R. K.; Culham, A. & Seberg, O. (2007). Flowering Plant Families of the World. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books. ISBN   978-1-55407-206-4.
  2. ↑ Takhtajan, Armen (2009). Takhtajan, Armen (ed.). Flowering Plants (Second ed.). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9609-9. ISBN   978-1-4020-9608-2.
  3. ↑ "Angiosperm Phylogeny Website - Malvales". Missouri Botanical Garden.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kubitzki, K. & Bayer, C., (2003).The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Vol. 5: Malvales, Capparales and Non-betalain Caryophyllales
  5. ↑ Baum, D. A., DeWitt Smith, S., Yen, A., Alverson, W. S., Nyffeler, R., Whitlock, B. A. & Oldham, R. A. (2004). American Journal of Botany 91(11):1863-1871.
  6. ↑ Mabberley, D.J. (1997). The plant-book (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-41421-0.
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