MALVACEAE

MALLOW FAMILY

Steven R. Hill, except as specified

Annual, perennial herb, shrubs, trees, generally stellate-hairy; juice sticky; inner bark tough, fibrous
Leaves alternate, simple, petioled; blade generally palmately veined or lobed, stipules present
Inflorescence often leafy; whorl or involucre of bractlets often subtending calyx
Flower generally bisexual, radial; calyx lobes 5, margins abutting in bud; petals 5, free (fused at base to filament tube, so falling together); stamens many, filaments fused into a tube surrounding style, tube fused in turn to petal bases; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 5 or more, style branches, stigmas generally 1 or 2 X as many as chambers
Fruit of 5–many disk- or wedge-shaped segments, loculicidal capsule, or berry
Genera in family: 100 genera, 2000 species: worldwide, especially warm regions; some cultivated (e.g., Abelmoschus , okra; Alcea ; Gossypium , cotton; Hibiscus , Malvaviscus )
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Sterculiaceae [Angiosperm phylogeny Group 1998 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 85:531–553; Alverson et al. 1999 Amer J Bot 86:1474–1486; Bayer et al. 1999 Bot J Linn Soc 129:267–303]
Mature fruit important for identification.

LAVATERA

TREE-MALLOW, MALVA ROSA

Annual, biennial, perennial herb, shrub, generally stellate-hairy
Stem generally soft-woody
Leaf: blade generally lobed
Inflorescence: pedicel jointed above middle; bractlets subtending calyx 3, fused at base into an involucre
Flower showy; petals rose-purple or white, generally dark-veined, generally reflexed in age; stigmas linear
Fruit ± disk-like; segments 6–10, smooth
Seed 1 per fruit segment
Species in genus: 25 species: ChI, Baja CA, Medit, Australia; naturalized elsewhere
Etymology: (Lavater brothers, 17th century Swiss physicians, naturalists)
Reference: [Fernandes 1968 Fl Eur 2:251–253]

Native

L. assurgentiflora Kellogg

MALVA ROSA, ISLAND MALLOW

Perennial, shrub, generally glabrous
Stem 10–40 dm
Leaf: blade 5–15 cm, 5–7-lobed, lobes triangular-ovate, toothed
Inflorescence rather open; involucre < calyx, bractlet free portions lanceolate
Flower: calyx 12–15 mm in flower, not greatly enlarging; petals 2.5–4.5 cm, rose
Fruit: segments 6–8, glabrous to hairy; outer surface smooth
Ecology: Coastal bluffs
Elevation: < 350 m.
Bioregional distribution: Channel Islands.Variable among islands. Plants from San Clemente and Santa Catalina Islands (s ChI) have been called subsp. glabra Philbrick, Southern island mallow. Cult as ornamental or windbreak on mainland (CCo, SCo) and naturalized there
Horticultural information: In cultivation.