Malvaceae

Family- Malvaceae

Popular name: The Mallow Family

Taxonomic Position (According to Cronquist)

Identifying Characters of the Family

1. Presence of stellate or tuffed hairs on the vegetative parts
2. Presence of mucilage cavities
3. Stipulate, palmately lobed leaves
4. Stamens monoadelphous
5. Stamens epipetalous
6. Pollen spiny, multiporate
7. Axile placentation
8. Fruit capsule, schzocarpic or cacerules

Origin and Distribution

The family Malvaceae consists of about 75 genera and 1000 to 1500 species, which are essentially cosmopolitan in distribution, but best developed in the tropics. In Bangladesh, the family Malvaceae is represented by 14 genera and 44 species.

General Morphology of the Plants of the Family

Habit: Herbs, shrubs or rarely small trees.

Stem: Stem and leaves usually beset with stellate hairs, frequently interspersed with simple hairs, sometimes with glandular hairs or glabrescent. Stem erect, simple or branched, herbaceous or woody.

Leaves: Leaves simple, petiolate, ovate or orbicular, entire, lobed, parted or variously dissected, serrate to crenate, base cordate, sometimes cuneate, tip acute to acuminate, sometimes emarginate, venation pinnately reticulate, usually multicostate, surface hairy or glabrous, stipules free, mostly caducous.

Inflorescence: Flowers solitary and axillary, or more often in compound cymose inflorescence

Flowers: bisexual, 5-merous, usually large, often showy, pedicellate, bracteate or ebracteate, hypogynous.

Clayx: Epicalyx 3-16 ormore, free or connate, sometimes epicalyx absent. Calyx usually campanulate with apical teeth, sepals usually 5, free or united basally, valvate, persistent, spathaceous and caducous.

Corolla: Corolla convolute (twisted), connivent, campanulate or rotate, petals usually 5, distinct or basally fused to the androecium (staminal column or tube) and dehiscent with it, coloured and showy.

Androecium: Stamens numerous, monadelphous, attached to the base of petals surrounding the pistil but apically distinct, the tube truncate or toothed, antheriferous throughout the length or upper portion only, filaments equal in size or unequal, anthers unilocular, reniform. dorsifixed.

Gynoecium: Ovary superior, 3-many locular, entire or lobed, ovules 1 to many in each locule, placentation axile, style 1, long, passing through the staminal tube, apically branched or unbranched, stylar branches terminating in stigmas as many as or twice the number of locules, stigmas usually capitate, rarely linear, peltate or discoid.

Fruit: a schizocarp or capsule, consisting of 5 to many mericarps or a loculicidal capsule, capsules 3 to many-seeded, mericarps 1 to many-seeded.

Seeds: non-endospermic or with oily endosperm surrounding the embryo.

Floral formula:                 K₍₅₎ C₅ A∞ G (2-5)

Table Important Plants of this Family with Economic Importance

 Okra/Lady’s finger

Scientific name: Abelmoschus esculentus

Botanical Description of Okra

Okra known in many English-speaking countries as lady’s fingers, bhindi, bamia, ochro or gumbo

Habit: Annual herb or some time perennial.

Root: Okra has a strong taproot, which grows up to 50cm deep; spreading up to 45cm

Stem: Erect, hairy i.e. toughed hairy.

Leaf: The leaves are spirally arranged, the leaf-blade is palmate with five to seven lobes and up to 50 cm in diameter, with few spines; petiole up to 50 cm long.

Flower: The flowers are 4-8 cm in diameter and have a dark purple center.

Fruit: The fruit is a cylindrical to pyramidal capsule, usually ribbed, spineless in cultivars, 5-cm long, 1-5 cm in diameter.

Figure Flower of Okra

Figure Field View of Okra

Table Okra variety developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)

Economic Importance: Tender fruits of okra are an important vegetable, consumed raw, cooked or fried. The leaves are sometimes used as spinach or cattle feed. The bast yields a strong useful fibre, which is long and silky, and is used for making cord. Okra mucilage is suitable for medicinal and industrial applications. It is a valuable emollient and demulcent. Seeds contain a considerable amount of good quality oil and protein. Okra provides a good source of vitamins and minerals and compared with other fleshy fruits like tomato, eggplant etc. it is particularly rich in calcium.

Kenaf

Scientific name: Hibiscus cannabinus

Taxonomic position (according Cronquist)

Economic Importance: This species is remarkably versatile as a multi-use crop. Its dry retted fibre is used in the manufacture of coarse textiles, and is also made into twine, rope and rope-soled shoes. In some countries the fibre is converted into carpets and rugs. Blends of cotton and kenaf fibres can be made into apparel and upholstery quality yams and fabrics. Whole dry stem furnish pulp with a potential for raw material of paper. Whole tender kenaf plants are an excellent fodder for cattle. Seeds contain up to 20% edible oil with a seed cake by-product for livestock feed or fertilizer.

Table popular H.cannabinus crop varieties developed by Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI)

Mesta

Scientific name: Hibiscus sabdariffa

Taxonomic position (according to Cronquist)

Table popular Mesta H. sabdariffa crop varieties developed by Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI)

English name: Levant cotton

Scientific name: Gossypium herbacium L.

Bangla/local name: Karpas tula

Taxonomic position according to Cronquist

Botanical Description of Levant Cotton

Habit: Annual herb or under shrub

Root: Tap root system, much branched

Stem: Erect, woody in mature, branched

Leaf: petiolate, ovate-round, cordate, palmately lobed

Inflorescence: Solitary axillary

Flower: Complete, hermaphrodite,

Fruit: Capsule

Economic Importance: Cottons belonging to this species constitute a fairly large percentage of medium staple cotton that is utilized commercially for low quality fabrics, carpets and blankets and is especially suitable for blending with wool. In India, the cotton seeds are medicinally used for abortion, the herbaceous parts contain much mucilage and are used as a demulcent.