Malveae is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the mallow

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Malvaceae 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 ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Malvoideae 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 th ...

. The tribe circumscribes approximately 70 genera and 1040 species and has the greatest species diversity out the three tribes that make up

(followed by

Hibisceae Hibisceae is a tribe of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae. Genera The following genera are included: *''Abelmoschus'' Medik. *''Anotea'' (DC.) Kunth *'' Cenocentrum'' Gagnep. *''Decaschistia'' Wight & Arn. ...

and then

Gossypieae Gossypieae is a tribe of the flowering plant subfamily Malvoideae. It includes the cotton (''Gossypium'') and related plants. It is distinguished from the Hibisceae on the basis of embryo structure and its apparently unique possession of glands a ...

). The flowers of Malveae are five-

merous Merosity (from the greek "méros," which means "having parts") refers to the number of component parts in a distinct whorl of a plant structure. The term is most commonly used in the context of a flower where it refers to the number of sepals in a ...

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 ''Althaea officinalis'', the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient ...

'', otherwise known as the

marsh-mallow ''Althaea officinalis'', the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient ...

. The fruits of Malveae are generally

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

ic, although some are functionally capsular. The tribe generally includes herbaceous plants, although ''

Robinsonella ''Robinsonella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae. It contains sixteen species of trees occurring from Costa Rica to southern Mexico, eight of which occur in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Species As of 2022, the following s ...

'' are trees. The tribe is a well supported

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group, supported by

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...

and

ribosomal DNA Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is a DNA sequence that codes for ribosomal RNA. These sequences regulate transcription initiation and amplification, and contain both transcribed and non-transcribed spacer segments. In the human genome there are 5 chromos ...

. Within Malvoideae, Malveae forms a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

with Gossypieae, sister to Hibisceae. Malveae species are primarily found in the Americas, although genera within the tribe are also found in Eurasia, Australia, and Africa. The intergeneric relationships within Malveae are not well resolved. The tribe was originally split between Eumalveae, Malopeae, Sideae and Abutileae based on

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

arrangement,

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

numbers and the flowers'

stigmatic Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Stigma ...

arrangements, however, now Malveae is generally grouped into 14 alliances (''

Abutilon ''Abutilon'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics Batesimalva ''Batesimalva'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. Its native range is Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles ...

Kearnemalvastrum ''Kearnemalvastrum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. Its native range is Mexico to Colombia. It is also found in the countries of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras. The genus name of ''Kearnemalvastrum'' is in ...

Malvastrum ''Malvastrum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. Its native range is the New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ...

Sphaeralcea ''Sphaeralcea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae). There are about 40-60 species, including annuals, perennials, and shrubs. Most originate in the drier regions of North America, with some known from South America. ...

Modiola ''Modiola'' is a monotypic genus of plants in the mallow family containing the single species ''Modiola caroliniana'', which is known by several common names including bristly-fruited mallow, Carolina bristlemallow, babosilla, and redflower mall ...

Anoda ''Anoda'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae, mallow family. There are 23 or 24 species of these herbs, most native to Mexico and South America. They are generally erect plants with a variety of leaf shapes, and many bear colorful f ...

, Gaya,

Malope ''Malope'' is a genus of three species in the mallow botanical family (Malvaceae). Of the three species, '' Malope trifida'' is often used as an ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for thei ...

, Anisodontea,

Malva ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temper ...

Sidalcea ''Sidalcea'' is a genus (approx. 25 species) of the botanical family Malvaceae. It contains several species of flowering plants known generally as checkerblooms or checkermallows, or prairie mallows in the United Kingdom. They can be annuals or ...

Malacothamnus ''Malacothamnus'' (bushmallow) is a genus of shrubs found throughout much of mainland California and on three of the Channel Islands. Outside of California, ''Malacothamnus'' is known from the northern half of Baja California and from a few disju ...

'' and ''

Plagianthus ''Plagianthus'' is a genus of flowering plants confined to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. The familial placement of the genus was controversial for many years, but modern genetic studies show it definitely belongs in the Malvaceae subfami ...

''). Recent ribosomal sequencing, however, suggests that these alliances are non monophyletic and may be better characterized by the presence or absence of involucre

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s (''i.e''., an epicalyx). No new

phylogenies A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...

have yet been proposed.

Genera

The following genera are recognized and as grouped from Bayer & Kubitzki(2003):

References

External links

* Malvoideae Rosid tribes {{Malveae-stub