Lavatera arborea L., Malvaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Other Latin names:  Malva arborea (L.) Webb & Berthel.; Malva dendromorpha M. F. Ray

Common name(s): [more details]

English: tree mallow

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Stout biennial up to 2-(3) m high, usually with a single main stem. Stems moderately to densely clothed in stellate hairs when young, becoming ± glabrous and woody at base when older. Leaves densely clothed in stellate hairs, velvety to touch, suborbicular, cordate at base, shortly 5-7-palmately lobed and crenulate, up to 20 cm in diameter, rarely variegated; petioles 3-30 cm long; stipules narrow- to ovate-triangular, 4-8 mm long. Flowers in axillary and terminal clusters of 2-7-(10) or rarely in irregular racemes; fruiting pedicels 5-20-(30) mm long; epicalyx segments broadly ovate to suborbicular, united for lower ?-1/2, > calyx, distinctly enlarged and spreading at fruiting; calyx shallowly campanulate; calyx teeth ± = tube, triangular, acute to acuminate, densely clothed in stellate hairs, usually ± connivent at fruiting; petals lilac or deep pink with purple or red veins and base, 15-20 mm long. Mericarps 6-8-(9) per fruit, usually glabrous, sometimes densely clothed in fine hairs, finely transversely ribbed on back; edges sharply angled"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 827).

Habitat/ecology:  In New Zealand, "waste places and cultivated land, especially well-established at coastal sites"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 827).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canary and Madeira Islands, northern Africa, Europe; naturalized elsewhere (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) As Malva dendromorpha M.F.Ray
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 827)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Lavatera arborea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lavatera arborea as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lavatera arborea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.