Comments on the taxonomic position of some genera in Sterculiaceae.

Sterculiaceae is a polytypic family with greatly diverse characteristics in Malvales. Till now many authors have no uniform agreement on the demarcation and the numbers of genera since E. P. Ventenat established this family in 1830. According to our studies, we agree that Erythopsis should be separated from Firmiana. Pentapetes should not be placed in Malvaceae, its characters are quite different from that of Malvaceae, so it is better to maintain it in the Sterculiaceae. On account of the pollen morphology and some other characters, Craigia is similar to that of some genera of Tiliaceae, and should be placed in Tiliaceae, but the flower and fruit characters of which are quite different from Excentrodendron and Burretiodendron, so we suggest establishing a new subfamily, namely Craigioideae S. J. Xu et Hsue subfam. nov. in the Tiliaceae to accommodate the Craigiae. Pentapetes, Corchoropsis, Paradombeya and Melhania should be placed in Sterculiaceae.