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.
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, roselle 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.
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.
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.
Durio kutejensis, commonly known as durian pulu, durian merah, nyekak, Pakan, Kuluk, or lai, is a primary rainforest substorey fruit tree from Borneo.
Durio zibethinus is the most common tree species in the genus Durio that are known as durian and have edible fruit also known as durian.
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:
Durio dulcis, known as durian marangang, red durian, tutong, or lahung, is a fairly large tree in the genus Durio. It can grow up to 40 m tall. The husk of its fruit is dark red to brown-red, and covered with slender 15–20 mm long spines. The fruit flesh is dark yellow, thin, and deep caramel-flavored, with a turpentine odor. The fruit of this species is considered by many to be the sweetest of all durians.
Boschia grandiflora, the ghost durian or durian munjit, is a tree endemic to the island of Borneo.
Scaphium is a genus of about eight species of plants in the subfamily Sterculioideae of the family Malvaceae. The name comes from the Greek, skaphion (σκάφιον), meaning a small boat like a skiff, and refers to the shape of the fruit.
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.
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.
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.
Cullenia exarillata is a flowering plant evergreen tree species in the family Malvaceae endemic to the rainforests of the southern Western Ghats in India. It is one of the characteristic trees of the mid-elevation tropical wet evergreen rainforests and an important food plant for the endemic primate, the lion-tailed macaque.
Durio graveolens, sometimes called the red-fleshed durian, orange-fleshed durian, or yellow durian, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae. It is one of six species of durian named by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari. The specific epithet graveolens is due to the odor. Although most species of Durio have a strong scent, the red-fleshed type of D. graveolens has a mild scent. It is native to Southeast Asia.
Durio lanceolatus is a tree in the family Malvaceae. It grows up to 55 metres (180 ft) tall.
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.
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.
Durio oxleyanus is a perennial plant species of tree in the family Malvaceae. It was once placed in the family Bombacaceae.
