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

As part of the mallow family, cotton is botanically related to okra and hibiscus, which thrive in tropical and subtropical regions.

From Washington Times

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 Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg