Bombacaceae
Encyclopedia
Bombacaceae is a family of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s or Angiospermae included within Malvales
Malvales
Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, it includes about 6000 species within nine families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots....

 order. As is true for any botanical name, circumscription and status of the taxon has varied with taxonomic point of view. The family name is based on the genus Bombax.

Recent phylogenetic research has shown that Bombacaceae as traditionally circumscribed (including tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 Durioneae) is not a monophyletic
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

 group. Bombacaceae is not recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to an informal international group of systematic botanists who came together to try to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge about plant relationships discovered through phylogenetic studies., three...

 I 1998, II 2003 and Kubitzki system
Kubitzki system
A system of plant taxonomy, the Kubitzki system is the product of an ongoing survey of vascular plants, entitled The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants....

 2003 at the rank of family, the bulk of the taxa in question being treated as subfamily Bombacoideae
Bombacoideae
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...

 within family Malvaceae
Malvaceae
Malvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species. Judd & al. Well known members of this family include okra, jute and cacao...

 sensu lato. A close relationship between Bombacaceae and Malvaceae has long been recognized but until recently the families have been kept separate in most classification systems, and continue to be separated in many references, including the reference work in classification of flowering plants: Heywood et al. 2007 and Takhtajan 2009, but have been lumped together in Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website is a well-known web site dedicated to research on Angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy.The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden website and maintained by researcher Peter F. Stevens, who is a member of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group...

.

Heywood et al. say "although closely related to Malvaceae, molecular data supports their separation. Only pollen and habit seem to provide a morphological basis for the separation." On the other hand they say: "One approach is to lump them [the families in the core Malvales
Malvales
Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, it includes about 6000 species within nine families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots....

, including Bombacaceae] all into a 'super' Malvaceae, recognizing them as subfamilies. The other, taken here, is to recognize each of these ten groups as families."

As circumscribed in its traditional sense, the family Bombacaceae includes around 30 genera (25 genera after Heywood et al. ) with about 250 species of tropical trees, some of considerable girth, so called "bottle trees". Many species grow to become large trees, with Ceiba pentandra the tallest, reaching a height to 70 m. Several of the genera are commercially important, producing timber, edible fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 or useful fibres. The family is noted for some of the softest hardwoods commercially traded, especially Balsa
Balsa
Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree , is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to tall. It is the source of balsa wood, a very lightweight material with many uses...

, Ochroma lagopus. The fruit of the Durian
Durian
The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio and the Malvaceae family . Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk...

, Durio zibethinus is famous, tasting better than it smells. At one time the fibre from the Kapok
Kapok
Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...

 tree, Ceiba pentandra was used in making lifebuoys. The Baobab
Baobab
Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....

s or "Bottle trees" (Adansonia spp.) are important icons in certain parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, noted for their immensely stout trunk development, a mechanism for enhancing water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 storage.

Genera

  • Adansonia
    Adansonia
    Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....

    L.
  • Aguiaria Ducke
  • Bernoullia Oliv.
  • Bombax
    Bombax
    Bombax is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, as well as sub-tropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. Common names for the genus include Silk Cotton Tree, Simal, Red Cotton Tree, Kapok and...

    L.
  • Catostemma Benth.
  • Cavanillesia
    Cavanillesia
    Cavanillesia is a genus of flowering plant in the Malvaceae family.It contains the following species :*Cavanillesia hylogeiton*Cavanillesia platanifolia, Cuipo*Cavanillesia umbellata...

    Ruiz & Pav.
  • Ceiba
    Ceiba
    Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia...

    Mill.
  • Chiranthodendron
    Chiranthodendron
    Chiranthodendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, comprising a single species of tree, Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, is called the Devil's hand tree, monkey's hand tree, or Mexican hand tree, or some variant thereof - for the distinct shape of its flowers, which resemble an...

    Larreat. (according to Kubitzki in subf. Bombacoideae and considered more closely related to Fremontodendron by Baum et al. 2004 )
  • Eriotheca
    Eriotheca
    Eriotheca is a genus of flowering plant in the mallow family .Species include:* Eriotheca candolleana* Eriotheca gracilipes* Eriotheca pubescens* Eriotheca peruviana...

    Schott & Endl.
  • Fremontodendron Coville (according to Heywood et al. )
  • Gyranthera
    Gyranthera
    Gyranthera is a genus of tropical trees of South America and Central America, belonging to family Malvaceae.Gyranthera caribensis is a tall buttressed tree, which grows in the Cordillera de la Costa montane forests of northern Venezuela. Gyranthera darienensis is a threatened species endemic to...

    Pittier
  • Huberodendron
    Huberodendron
    Huberodendron is a genus of flowering plant in the Bombacaceae family.It contains the following species:* Huberodendron allenii* Huberodendron ingens* Huberodendron patinoi* Huberodendron swietenioides...

    Ducke
  • Matisia
    Matisia
    Matisia is a genus of flowering plant in the Malvaceae sensu lato or Bombacaceae family.It contains the following species:* Matisia alata* Matisia exalata* Matisia grandifolia - Molinillo* Matisia palenquiana...

    Bonpl.
  • Neobuchia Urb.
  • Ochroma Sw.
  • Pachira
    Pachira
    Pachira is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America, Africa and India. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae...

    Aubl.
  • Patinoa Cuatrec.
  • Pentaplaris
    Pentaplaris
    Pentaplaris is a genus of flowering plant in the Tiliaceae family.It contains the following species:* Pentaplaris davidsmithii* Pentaplaris doroteae* Pentaplaris huaoranica...

    L.O.Williams & Standl. (according to Kubitzki in subf. Bombacoideae, but incertae sedis )
  • Phragmotheca
    Phragmotheca
    Phragmotheca is a genus of flowering plant in the Bombacaceae family.It contains the following species:* Phragmotheca rubriflora...

    Cuatrec.
  • Pseudobombax
    Pseudobombax
    Pseudobombax is a genus of flowering plant in the Malvaceae family. Subfamily: BombacoideaeSpecies include:* Pseudobombax argentinum - Soroche* Pseudobombax ellipticum* Pseudobombax guayasense* Pseudobombax millei - Beldaco...

    Dugand
  • Quararibea
    Quararibea
    Quararibea is a genus of aromatic plants in the family Malvaceae. Quararibea "ishpingo" is added to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink ayahuasca. Quararibea turbinata goes by the common name "Swizzlestick tree."...

    Aubl.
  • Scleronema
    Scleronema (plant)
    Scleronema is a genus of flowering plant in the Bombacaceae family....

    Benth.
  • Septotheca Ulbr.
  • Spirotheca Ulbr. (according to Heywood et al. )

Genera of tribe Durioneae excluded from Bombacaceae after Heywood et al. 2007 and that should be included in Durionaceae :
  • Boschia Korth.
  • Coelostegia Benth.
  • Cullenia
    Cullenia
    Cullenia is a genus of flowering plants native to India and Sri Lanka. Earlier classification schemes place the genus in the Kapok-tree family , but the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group places it in the Malva family ....

    Wight
  • Durio Adans.
  • Kostermansia
    Kostermansia
    Kostermansia is a genus of flowering plant in the Malvaceae family.It contains the following species:* Durian Tuang...

    Soegeng
  • Neesia Blume

Genus that should be excluded from Bombacaceae after Heywood et al. 2007 and that be included in Malvaceae s. s.
  • Camptostemon Mast.

Genera considered synonym after Kubitzki 2003
  • Bombacopsis
    Bombacopsis
    Bombacopsis is a medium-sized to large tree, that can reach 3 to in diameter, and at times reaches a height of . The trunk and larger branches often have sharp prickles. Its common range is in the forests of western Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Panama....

    Pittier = Pachira Aubl.
  • Chorisia Kunth = Ceiba Mill.
  • Rhodognaphalon
    Rhodognaphalon
    Rhodognaphalon is a genus of flowering plant in the Bombacaceae family.It contains the following species:* Rhodognaphalon mossambicense* Rhodognaphalon breviscupe...

    (Ulbr.) Roberty = Pachira Aubl.

Genus not treated in Kubitzki
  • Lahia Hassk., synonym of Durio, according to Mabberley
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