Kingdom Plantae Rank Subfamily | Higher classification Mallows Order Malvales | |
 | ||
Similar Mallows, Malvoideae, Malvales, Pseudobombax, Eriotheca | ||
Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. Flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the calyx has 5 sepals united at the base, accompanied frequently by an epicalyx (involucel). The corolla has 5 free petals and an androecium of numerous stamens, typically with filaments fused in a staminal tube (column) that surrounds the styles. The pollen is smooth and the ovary superior and pluricarpellate. Fruits are schizocarpous or capsular.
Classification
Some taxa in this subfamily were previously grouped under the now-obsolete family Bombacaceae as recent phylogenetic research has shown that Bombacaceae as traditionally circumscribed (including tribe Durioneae) is not a monophyletic group. Camptostemon and Pentaplaris might more appropriately be placed in Malvoideae as might the tribe Matisieae (Matisia, Phragmotheca and Quararibea).