List of malvid families
The malvids consist of eight orders of flowering plants: Brassicales, Crossosomatales, Geraniales, Huerteales, Malvales, Myrtales, Picramniales and Sapindales. This subgroup of the rosids is divided into 59 families of trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants.
The mustard family includes broccoli, turnips, mustards, and radishes. The ornamental geraniums, and their many hybrids and cultivars, come from five species of Pelargonium. The mallow family includes the plants that yield cocoa beans, Cola nuts, okra, cotton and jute. In the family Lythraceae, Pomegranates were cultivated by Bronze Age cultures, and wild water chestnuts were consumed in large quantities by prehistoric Europeans. Eucalyptus trees are the tallest known flowering plants, up to or more; they are grown for timber and for their oils, used in candy, perfumes and cough medicine. Mangos and cashews come from the same plant family as poison ivy, and can sometimes trigger allergic reactions. Canada produces most of the world's maple syrup, and the maple leaf is the country's national symbol. Citrus agriculture outranks other sweet-fruit industries in warm climates.
Glossary
From the glossary of botanical terms:- annual: a plant species that completes its life cycle within a single year or growing season
- basal: attached close to the base
- climber: a vine that leans on, twines around or clings to other plants for vertical support
- deciduous: falling seasonally, as with bark, leaves, or petals
- glandular hair: a hair tipped with a secretory structure
- herbaceous: not woody; usually green and soft in texture
- mangrove: any shrub or small tree growing in brackish or salt water
- perennial: not an annual or biennial
- succulent : juicy or fleshy
- unisexual: of one sex; bearing only male or only female reproductive organs
- woody: hard and lignified; not herbaceous