Lavatera olbia L.
Althaea olbia (L.) Kuntze
Eng.: Rosea tree mallow. Spa.: Malvavisco rizado. Fre.: Lavatère d’Hyères. Ara.: Chedjret el khabbiz, khobbiza, abejjir, bakkola, abbejir, khobbiza, khobbeziet ech chedjeriya, khobbeziet meqluba. Tam.: Timeddedist, tibbi.
Hermaphrodite shrub, up to 2.5(3) m in height, erect, denser than the previous species. Trunk well defined, sometimes branched from the base, with brown-purple bark. Branches open, extended-upright, reddish-purple; younger branches green, covered with a dense tomentum of small stellate hairs and pediculate-fasciculate hairs. Leaves (3-15.5 × 2-13.5 cm) ± ovate, with 3-5 lobes from acute to obtuse, which may be ± pronounced; leaf blade flat, undulate or slightly folded, margin with wide obtuse teeth, from cordate to subtruncate at the base; green and tomentose on both sides. Petiole shorter than the leaf. Flowers solitary, axillary, with peduncle much shorter than the petiole of the leaf on whose axil the flower is borne. Epicalyx with parts slightly longer than half the calyx, fused halfway. Calyx with lobes 5-8 mm, ovate-acuminate. Epicalyx and calyx covered with the same tomentum as branchlets and leaves. Petals purple, with slightly darker venation. Stamens large and showy, with purple filaments, fused, and white anthers. Fruit enclosed inside the accrescent calyx, composed of 17-19 mericarps arranged around a conical axis, monospermous, villous, yellowish when mature.
Flowering:
February to May.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Humid soils, usually along banks of rivers, streams and lagoons, mainly on calcareous soils. From semiarid to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western Mediterranean region. In North Africa, although it is never a very abundant species (sometimes cultivated), it grows throughout the N strip of the less dry Mediterranean area, from Morocco to Tunisia. To the S it reaches the Middle Atlas. Towards the E, in NE Libya (Cyrenaica), it also grows in the Akhdar Massif.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species but widely distributed. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.