Lavatera flava Desf.
Althaea flava (Desf.) Kuntze, L. foucauldii Maire & Sennen
Spa.: Malvavisco moro. Fre.: Lavatère jaune.
Hermaphrodite shrub, up to l(1.5) m in height, erect, not very dense. Trunk promptly branched, with greyish bark. Branches open, extended-upright; older branches with greyish bark, glabrous; younger branches green, covered by a dense greenish-yellowish tomentum of small, stellate and erect hairs. Leaves (2-7 × 2.5-9 cm) wider than long, suborbicular, with 3-5 rounded lobes, which may be ± pronounced, green and with stellate hairs on both sides; leaf blade flat, undulate or slightly folded, margin with wide obtuse teeth and from cordate to subtrucate at the base. Petiole as long as the leaf. Flowers in small groups of 2-5, axillary, with the peduncle shorter than the petiole of the leaf on whose axil the flower is borne. Epicalyx with ovate parts, as long as half of the calyx. Calyx with ovate lobes, longly acuminate. Epicalyx and calyx covered with the same tomentum as branchlets and leaves. Petals yellow or whitish-yellowish [in the region of Kert-Gane —N of Morocco— they are purple (L. flava var. purpurea Maire)]. Stamens large and showy, with white filaments, fused, and white anthers. Fruit enclosed by the accrescent calyx, formed by about 12 mericarps arranged around a conical axis, monospermous, tomentose.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
June to August.
Habitat:
Clayey, loamy and gypsum terrains. Fom semiarid to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa. It is a very rare species, with isolated populations scattered through the NE of Morocco, NW of Algeria and NE of Tunisia.
Observations:
L. triloba L. has been cited several times in Morocco; however, this species does not seem to be found here; these citations should be assigned to L. flava.
Conservation status:
Rare species and with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.