MALPIGHI A CEAE 
456 
Malpighiaceae. Dicotyledons (Archichl. Geraniales). 55 gen. with 
650 sp., trop., esp. S. Am. Shrubs or small trees, usually climbing, 
forming a marked feature among the trop. lianes. The stem-anatomy 
is peculiar (p. 173). Leaves usually opp., entire, stip., frequently 
gland-dotted. The plants are usually covered with peculiar branched 
unicellular hairs. Infl. racemose. Fir. £ » obliquely zygomorphic. 
K (5), imbricate, often with large glands at the base of (outside) the 
sepals; C 5, petals usually clawed, imbricate; A 5 + 5, obdiploste- 
monous, often fewer, joined in a ring at the base ; anthers opening 
introrsely by longitudinal splits; G (3), obliquely placed in the fir., 
3-loc. with axile* placentae. One ovule in each loc., pendulous, semi- 
anatropous, with ventral raphe. Fruit typically a schizocarp breaking 
into 3 mericarps, but frequently one or more of the loc. abort. The 
mericarps are often wdnged, in some cases, e.g . Banisteria, like those 
of Acer. Seed exalbuminous. 
Classification and chief genera (after Niedenzu) : 
I. Pyramidotorae (torus pyramidal ; mericarps usually winged) : 
Tetrapteris, Banisteria, Acridocarpus. 
II. Planitorae (torus flat or concave ; mericarps not winged) : 
Malpighia, Bunchosia, Byrsonima. 
[Placed in Geraniales by Benth.- Hooker, in Aesculinae by 
Warming.] 
Malus Toum. ex Linn. = Pyrus Tourn. 
Malva (Tourn.) Linn. (excl. Callirhoe Nutt.). Malvaceae (11). 25 sp. 
N. temp.; 3 in Brit. Fir. of the ordinary type of the order, with 00 
cpls. Two Brit. sp. M. sylvestris L. and M. rotundifolia L. (large 
and small mallow) afford an interesting contrast in floral mechanism, 
&c. Honey is secreted in little pockets in the receptacle, covered 
with hairs which exclude rain and very short-tongued insects. The 
large mallow is very protandrous; the sta. stand up at first in the 
middle of the flr., and afterwards bend outwards and downwards 
whilst the styles lengthen and occupy the original positions of the 
sta. The small mallow has much smaller firs, w'hich are much less 
visited by insects (see lists of visitors in Muller’s Fert . of Firs.) ; they 
go through stages similar to those described above, but at the end of 
the female stage the styles bend downwards, twist in among the 
anthers and pollinate themselves (see p. 58). 
The leaves in autumn may usually be seen covered with brown 
spots caused by the fungus Puccinia malvacearum (cf. Berberis). 
Malvaceae. Dicotyledons (Archichl. Malvales). About 35 gen. with 
700 sp. trop. and temp. Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with stip. leaves. 
Firs, solitary or in compound cymose infls. made up of cincinni, $ , 
regular, usually 5-merous. Very often an epicalyx is present ; it is 
probably an aggregation of bracteoles, but has been regarded as 
stipular like that of some Rosaceae (q.v.). K 5 or (5), valvate; C 5, 
convolute, the petals usually asymmetrical ; A usually 00 , owing to- 
