Malvaceae

Family Malvaceae, which is also known as mallow family, is a family of Class Magnoliopsida, flowering plants. This family includes a number of species that usually possess five green sepals and five showy petals. Their numerous stamens are fused at the base part and form a tube near the pistil. Mostly, species in this family are herbs or shrubs excluding several tree species. In this family, there are more than 100 of genera and about 1500 species. Common character is they chiefly have stellate, star-shaped, hairs and mucus like sap. 

Anatomy
Species in Family Malvaceae share many characters that other families in Class Magnoliopsida such as palmate leaves, mucilage canals within its tissues, star-shaped hairs on the vegetative parts. Most species have stellate, star-shaped leaves but some species have peltate leaves. On leaf, water supply tissues are present. Mucilage canals in its tissues produce mucilage that sometimes penetrates into the mesophyll. Stomatas are on bottom surface of leaf, commonly. In addition to, species in Family Malvaceae have nectaries that are composed of weeds with cyclopropenyl fatty acid and glandular hairs, which are usually on the calyx.

In stem, most species possess cavities for secretory process. Mucilage cells exist for secretory process as well. Inside stem, cambium is present like many other plants. 

Reproduction
Malvaceaes are synoecious – they have both female part and male part on one head like most plants. Remarkable subgroup which departs from this characteristic is subfamily Sterculioideae. This subfamily contains 12 genera and about 400 species. Flowers of this group are usually polygamous or unisexual. A bunch of stamens compose one group. Anther exists alone. 

Ecology
There are both annual plants and perennial plants in family Malvaceae. They are distributed in the temperate zone and the tropical zone. Malvaceae plants are very various so each species has totally different preference of environment. There are species that live in desert place, or other species live on rocky place. Due to this diversity, sometimes two different species in this family appear completely different and hard to notice that those are same family.

Economic uses
Most plants in family Malvaceae is very frequently used in many fields. Especially their fibers are one of 3 most important sources of natural fiber crops. One of genera in this family, genus Gossypium obtains seeds with hair and those are weightily treated as source of cotton. Cotton from this genus is the most prominence fiber so it’s produced over 20 million tons annually. China, USA, India, and Pakistan are primal countries of Gossypium cotton production.

Not only cotton, but also fruits are used often. Durian and cacao, which are very popular fruits, are included in this family. Especially, cacao is the basic source of chocolate and cacao butter so there is a huge demand. 

Related References

 * Malvaceae wikipedia
 * Malvaceae (mallow family) Mark A. Dimmitt
 * Mallow family Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
 * Angiosperm Families - Malvaceae Juss. L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz
 * Malvaceae Digital Flowers
 * Core Malvales Stacey D. Smith and David A. Baum
 * Malvaceae Info Stewart R. Hinsley