page_title: Malvaceae
section_title: Taxonomy and nomenclature
hierarchical_section_title: Malvaceae / Taxonomy and nomenclature
caption_attribution_description: Hibiscus moscheutos (Swamp Rose-mallow), photo taken at en:Don Valley Brick Works in en:Toronto, Ontario on Aug. 8, 2003.
context_page_description: 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, Malva and Lavatera, as well as Tilia. The largest genera in terms of number of species include Hibiscus, Sterculia, Dombeya, Pavonia and Sida.
context_section_description: The circumscription of the Malvaceae is controversial. The traditional Malvaceae sensu stricto comprise a very homogeneous and cladistically monophyletic group. Another major circumscription, Malvaceae sensu lato, has been more recently defined on the basis that molecular techniques have shown the commonly recognised families Bombacaceae, Tiliaceae, and Sterculiaceae, which have always been considered closely allied to Malvaceae s.s., are not monophyletic groups. Thus, the Malvaceae can be expanded to include all of these families so as to compose a monophyletic group. Adopting this circumscription, the Malvaceae incorporate a much larger number of genera.
caption: Swamp rose mallow
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