| Mollia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mollia lepidota | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Subfamily: | Grewioideae |
| Genus: | Mollia Mart. |
| Type species | |
| Mollia speciosa Mart. | |
| Synonyms | |
SchlechtendaliaSpreng. | |
Mollia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. [1] It is within the Grewioideae subfamily, [2] and the Grewieae tribe. [3]
Mollia are large trees, [4] or tall shrubs, [5] growing up to 15 metres (49 ft) tall. [4]
They have 3-veined from the base leaves which have serrated, toothed (dentate) or smooth margins. [4] [5] The indumentum (surface covering) has stellate hairs and pelate scales. They have rudimentary (or small) stipules (a small appendage at the bases of leaves), [5] which are caducous (fall off early). [4]
It has inflorescences in few- to many flowered units, sometimes on a common peduncle (stalk), or solitary flowers. They are showy and white. The sepals are narrow with the petals being truncate and glandless. The stamens are numerous, in 2 whorls each of 5 phalanges with basally fused filaments (stamen stalks), the outer whorl is antesepalous and longer than the inner. [5]
The anthers are introrse (with opening toward the centre of flower), subasifixed, diamorphic (having two different forms), in outer whorl they are cordate at base and in the inner whorl, they are sagittate (arrow-head shaped). [5]
The ovary is 2 locular, or incompletely so. The ovules are 2 seriate (arranged in rows) in each locule and numerous. The style is filiform (needle-like) and the stigma is punctiform (dot-like). [5] The fruit capsule is 2 locular (or bivalved), [4] [5] brown when mature and one centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter. [4] The capsule is also loculicidal (splits along an edge), globose or compressed contrary to the septum and sometimes winged along the line of dehiscence (splitting edge). The loculi, each with two rows of 8–20 flattened seeds and fitting between narrow membranous partitions. [5]
The seeds are short winged, [5] various per fruit, plants pubescent. [4] The embryo (inside the seed) is flat, endosperm copious and oily. [5]
The genus name of Mollia is in honour of Karl von Moll (1760–1838), an Austrian naturalist and statesman. [6] The genus was first described and published in Nov. Gen. Sp. Pl. Bras. Vol.1 on page 96 in 1826. [1]
The genus is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, but they do not list any known species. [7]
In the 1800s the genus was once placed within the family Tiliaceae, [8] It was returned in the Malvales family in 1935. [9]
It was placed within Grewioidaee subfamily due to molecular data (phospholipase gene) Blatter (unpulished source), but another author, Meijer thought it to be related to the Trichospermum genus due to similar capsule shapes. [5] [10]
The genus has been studied in 2021 and the various synonyms have been determined. [11]
Its native range is southern Tropical America, [4] [12] and it is found in Bolivia, (northern, north-eastern and west central) Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, [5] Peru and Venezuela. [1]
It is found in the savannah forests of Cerrado, Brazil. [13]
about 18 species known, [5] According to Kew: [1]
Mollia glabrescensBenth. and Mollia nitidaDucke are listed by IUCN as 'Vulnerable'. [14]
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 largest genera in terms of number of species include Hibiscus, Sterculia, Dombeya, Pavonia and Sida.
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.
Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species.
Hevea is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, with about ten members. It is also one of many names used commercially for the wood of the most economically important rubber tree, H. brasiliensis. The genus is native to tropical South America but is widely cultivated in other tropical countries and naturalized in several of them. It was first described in 1775.
Dipteryx is a genus containing a number of species of large trees and possibly shrubs. It belongs to the "papilionoid" subfamily – Faboideae – of the family Fabaceae. This genus is native to South and Central America and the Caribbean. Formerly, the related genus Taralea was included in Dipteryx.
Parkia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Several species are known as African locust bean.
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.
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.
Andira is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is distributed in the tropical Americas, except for A. inermis, which also occurs in Africa. It was formerly assigned to the tribe Dalbergieae, but molecular phylogenetic studies in 2012 and 2013 placed it in a unique clade within subfamily Faboideae named the Andira clade.
Macrolobium is a legume genus in the subfamily Detarioideae. It is a tropical genus with about 80 species. Half occur in Brazil, where they are common in the floodplains of the Amazonian Basin. Members of the genus are used as ornamentals and for their wood.
Tachigali is a flowering plant genus in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains about 75 species.
Apeiba is a genus of shrubs or trees in the family Malvaceae. It is native to tropical America.
Mollia glabrescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae sensu lato or Tiliaceae or Sparrmanniaceae. It is found only in Guyana.
Luehea is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae.
Retiniphyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 20 species. It is the only genus in the tribe Retiniphylleae. The representatives are shrubs or small trees that grow in white sand soils in tropical South America. They are mainly distributed in the Guayana Region (Venezuela) but also occur in the Amazon Basin, the eastern Andes and central and eastern Brasil.
Ferdinandusa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae, native to the American tropics.
Walteranthus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gyrostemonaceae. It only contains one known species, Walteranthus erectus.
Lueheopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. It is also in the subfamily of Grewioideae.
Davilla is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Dilleniaceae. It has around 30 neotropical, species and is one of most diverse genera of lianas, vines, erect or scandent (climbing) shrubs.
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.