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Walker, Colin
(2021).
Abstract
The mallow family (Malvaceae) is familiar as garden plants such as Hibiscus, hollyhock and mallow, as well as the economically important crops cotton and cocoa. It is a large family but only relatively few species exhibit either pachycaul succulence (bottle trees with fat stems) or have succulent leaves. This article surveys succulence in this family. The most iconic succulent mallows are the baobabs of the genus Adansonia. Other succulents occur in Brachychiton, Cavanillesia, Ceiba, Megistostegium, Pseudobombax and possibly also in Sterculia. The baobabs in particular have wide economic and cultural use.