Vegetative characters:
Habit: Plant varies in habit. There are all types of plants like herbs, shrubs and trees.
Root: It is usually tap root branched, in some adventitious roots may be present.
Stem: Aerial, erect, in some semi-prostrate e.g. Malva, Sida, Hibiscus sps, herbaceous above and woody below, completely woody in trees, solid or fistular, branched, usually hairy.
Leaf: Cauline and ramal, alternate, stipulate, stipules caduious or deciduous, simple, in some compound ovate multi-costate reticulate venation.
Floral Characters: Influence usually solitary terminal or solitary axillary and in some raceme.
Flower: Bractiate or ebractiate, bracteolate or ebractedate, regular, complete bisexual, mostly hypogynous, cyclic, variously coloured. Epicalyn lobes 3-12 free of fused, green calyxsapals 5 gamosepalous, campanilate, tubular or infundibuliform sometimes persistent, green, velvate.
Petals 5, twisted, stamens numerous monadelphous forming a staminal tube fused at the base with petals. Anthens oblong or reniform (kidney shaped) and one chambered.
Pistil Polycarpellary syncarpous, ovary superior multi-locular with one, two or more ovules in each loculus.
Placentation axile, styles fused together, fruit carcerulus or a capsule.
Seed reniform or ovoid mostly non endospermic.
E.g. (1) Malva sylvestris (Gul Khairi)
Floral Formula: +, ♀, Epi 3, K 5, C (5), A (α), G (α).(2) Althena rosea, Holly hock (verm, Gule khaira)
(3) Hibiscus esculentas, ladies finger (Bhindi)
(4) Gosypium herbaceum, common cotton plant (Kapas).
(5) Hibiscus rosa sinensis (china rose)
Economic importance:
Various species of Gossypium yield cotton which is a chief source of fibre for the manufacture of cloth. Fibre is also obtained from the bark of Abutilon. The fruit of Hibiscus esculentus (ladies finger) is used as vegetable some plants have medicinal properties. Lavetra cashmirica yields khatmi. Many plants such as Althaea rosea and Hibiscus rosa sinensis are cultivated for their ornamental flowers.
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