mallow family: Meaning and Definition of

mal'low fam"ily

1. the plant family Malvaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having palmately veined, lobed, or compound leaves, sticky juice, often showy five-petaled flowers with stamens united in a column, and fruit in the form of a capsule with several divisions, and including the cotton plant, hibiscus, hollyhock, mallow, okra, and rose of Sharon.