- Malvaceae
Key to the genera of Malvaceae
1Flowers bisexual; stamens 5, often with 5 staminodes2 1Flowers bisexual or unisexual; stamens 10 or more, or plants spinose with 1–20 stamens6 2Petals conspicuous; staminodes present; capsule bristly or burr-like3 2Petals absent or minute and gland-like (but calyx often corolla-like); staminodes absent; capsule not bristly4 3Anther dehiscence sublatrorse; central (or only) staminode hairyCommersonia → 3Anther dehiscence extrorse; central (or only) staminode glabrousAndrocalva → 4Stipules absent; calyx white, pink or brownish, not paperyLasiopetalum → 6Herbs or shrubs, rarely trees; flowers unisexual or bisexual, petals, sepals and often epicalyx present; fruit a capsule or separating into mericarps8 8Epicalyx present, sometimes caducous9 9Epicalyx reduced to a ridge surrounding the base of the caylx; trees, covered in appressed scalesLagunaria 9Epicalyx of 3 or more lobes; plants variously hairy, usually lacking scales10 10Lobes of epicalyx 5 or more11 11Epicalyx 5-lobed or of 5 free segments; fruit a schizocarp with 1-seeded mericarps; stigmas 10; leaves hastate-ovate with serrate marginsPavonia > Pavonia hastata 11Epicalyx with more than 5 lobes; fruit a capsule; stigmas 5; leaves usually lobed13 13Lobes of epicalyx free to or united just above base, linear; styles clearly branched below stigmas; capsule 5-valvedHibiscus → 13Lobes of epicalyx fused in lower half into a cup-like involucre, oblanceolate; style unbranched; capsule splitting into 10 segmentsRadyera > Radyera farragei 15Lobes of epicalyx free from each other (but often adnate to calyx tube); low, sometimes prostrate herbs or woody shrubs16 15Lobes of epicalyx fused to each other; erect, often tall herbs or soft-wooded shrubsMalva → 16Herbs; flowers usually solitary; epicalyx not shrivelled at anthesis18 18Plants not rooting at nodes; petals not orange to red; mericarps 1-seeded19 19Petals pale pink, mauve, bluish or white; indumentum of stellate and/or simple hairsMalva → 22Petals yellow, white or greenish, rarely pale purple; ovary 5–20-locular23 23Petals mostly less than 1 cm long (rarely longer in male flowers); fruit a schizocarp, with 1 seeded mericarps24 23Petals 1–2( –5) cm long, yellow; fruit capsular, with 1–3 seeds per loculeAbutilon → 24Flowers pale purple; mericarps with spreading dorsal beak, hirsute, apex with a tuft of long simple hairsAnoda > Anoda cristata 24Flowers yellow, white or greenish; mericarps lacking dorsal beak, sometimes winged or apex often raised or mucronate26 26Slender trees to 10 m high; leaves glabrous, glossy green with serrate margins; mericarps distinctly wingedHoheria > Hoheria populnea 26Herbs, shrubs or small trees to 5 m high; leaves not glossy and glabrous; mericarps not winged28 28Petals distinctly yellow; stigmas capitate; flowers bisexual29 28Petals white or greenish; stigmas decurrent on style branches; flowers often unisexual31 29Petals ciliate at base, otherwise glabrousSida → 31Flowers in axillary panicles or racemes, at least the males pedicellate32 31Flowers sessile (but pedicellate in L. berthae), solitary or clustered in axils; shrubs of the north-west, or a ± rosetted coastal herbLawrencia → 32Spreading to erect shrubs to 3 m high or more; leaves mostly 5 cm long or more; damp situations, on or south of the Dividing RangeGynatrix → 32Weak shrub to c. 50 cm high; leaves to c. 4 cm long; north-west onlyLawrencia → Modified from: Barker, R.M.; Walsh, N.G. (1996). Malvaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J. (eds), Flora of Victoria. Vol. 3. Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
