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.
The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as grapevines and Virginia creeper. The family name is derived from the genus Vitis.
Fumarioideae is a subfamily of the family Papaveraceae. It was formerly treated as a separate family, the Fumariaceae. It consists of about 575 species of herbaceous plants in 20 genera, native to the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa. The largest genus is Corydalis.
The Bixaceae are a family of dicotyledonous plants commonly called the achiote family. Under the Cronquist system, the family was traditionally placed in the order Violales. However, newer arrangements move it, with some other families previously in the Violales, into the Malvales.
The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of five genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 570 species in the genus Oxalis. Members of this family typically have divided leaves, the leaflets showing "sleep movements", spreading open in light and closing in darkness.
The Buxaceae are a small family of six genera and about 123 known species of flowering plants. They are shrubs and small trees, with a cosmopolitan distribution. A seventh genus, sometimes accepted in the past (Notobuxus), has been shown by genetic studies to be included within Buxus.
The Potamogetonaceae, commonly referred to as the pondweed family, is an aquatic family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The roughly 110 known species are divided over six genera. The largest genus in the family by far is Potamogeton, which contains about 100 species.
Zosteraceae is a family of marine perennial flowering plants found in temperate and subtropical coastal waters, with the highest diversity located around Korea and Japan. Most seagrasses complete their entire life cycle under water, having filamentous pollen especially adapted to dispersion in an aquatic environment and ribbon-like leaves that lack stomata. Seagrasses are herbaceous and have prominent creeping rhizomes. A distinctive characteristic of the family is the presence of characteristic retinacules, which are present in all species except members of Zostera subgenus Zostera.
The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
The Berberidaceae are a family of 18 genera of flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order Ranunculales. The family contains about 700 known species, of which the majority are in Berberis. The species include trees, shrubs and perennial herbaceous plants.
Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species. Such a family has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It is known to gardeners for the genus Hibbertia, which contains many commercially valuable garden species.
Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, Asparagus officinalis. This family includes both common garden plants as well as common houseplants. The garden plants include asparagus, yucca, bluebell, and hosta, and the houseplants include snake plant, corn cane, spider plant, and plumosus fern.
Hypoxidaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.
Dasypogonaceae is a family of flowering plants based on the type genus Dasypogon, one that has traditionally not been commonly recognized by taxonomists; the plants it contains were usually included in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae. If valid, Dasypogonaceae includes four genera with 16 species. The family is endemic to Australia. The best known representative is Kingia australis.
Tecophilaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. It consists of nine genera with a total of 27 species.
The Ecdeiocoleaceae comprise a family of flowering plants with two genera and three species. The botanical name has rarely been recognized by taxonomists.
Flagellaria is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Flagellariaceae with only five species. The family has historically been recognized by few taxonomists. The APG II system, of 2003, does recognize such a family, and assigns it to the order Poales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.
Phytolaccaceae is a family of flowering plants. Though almost universally recognized by taxonomists, its circumscription has varied. It is also known as the Pokeweed family.
Butomus is the only known genus in the plant family Butomaceae, native to Europe and Asia. It is considered invasive in some parts of the United States.
Petiveriaceae is a family of flowering plants formerly included as subfamily Rivinoideae in Phytolaccaceae. The family comprises nine genera, with about 20 known species.
