mallow family

American  

noun

1. the plant family Malvaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having palmately veined, lobed, or compound leaves, sticky juice, often showy five-petaled flowers with stamens united in a column, and fruit in the form of a capsule with several divisions, and including the cotton plant, hibiscus, hollyhock, mallow, okra, and rose of Sharon.

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Example Sentences

Upon the mesas of the south we often see a shrubby member of the mallow family, with long, wandlike branches ornamented with closely set, pink flowers, of delicate texture and pleasant perfume.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

Sida, sī′da, n. a large genus of downy herbs of the mallow family.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Cotton is the fine, soft, downy material of a hairy nature which is found on the seeds of a certain plant, the cotton plant, which belongs to the mallow family.

From The Art of Living in Australia ; together with three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen information by Mrs. H. Wicken by Muskett, Philip E.

Sida pulchella.—A plant of the mallow family; the bark contains fibrous tissues available for the manufacture of cordage.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William

Thespesia populnea.—A tropical tree, belonging to the mallow family.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William