Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Malpighiaceous \Mal*pi`ghi*a"ceous\, a. (Bot.)
   Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order of tropical
   trees and shrubs ({Malpighiace[ae]}), some of them climbing
   plants, and their stems forming many of the curious lianes of
   South American forests.