''Palaua'' is a genus of malvaceous plants native to the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. It shares with '' Malope'' and '' Kitaibelia'' the property of possessing capitate

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any Dry fruits, dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more ...

s, and was formerly classified with them in a subfamily Malopoideae or tribe Malopeae. It is now considered to be more closely related to ''

Sphaeralcea ''Sphaeralcea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae). There are about 40-60 species, including annuals, perennials, and shrubs. Most originate in the drier regions of North America, with some known from South America. ...

'', and to other Andean mallows. It is native to Peru and northern Chile. The genus name of ''Palaua'' is in honour of Antonio Palau y Verdera (1734–1793), a Spanish naturalist. It was first described and published in Diss. Vol.1 on page 40 in 1785.

Known species

According to Kew, The genus is recognised by

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

, but they only accept the following species; ''Palaua biserrata'', ''Palaua glabra'', ''Palaua lanceolata'', ''Palaua scabra'' and ''Palaua tomentosa''.

References

External links

* * Malveae Malvaceae genera Plants described in 1785 Flora of Peru Flora of Chile {{Malveae-stub