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Genus Lavatera L.

Род 492 (2). ЛАВАТЕРА — LAVATE RA L.
L., Sp. Pl. ed. 1 (1753) 690; Gen. Pl. ed. 5 (1754) 308

Fam: Malvaceae Juss.
Genus: Lavatera L.
English Name: Tree mallows

Description:

Trees, shrubs or perennial to annual herbaceous plants. Stems erect, usually densely fibrous. Stipule entire, lance. Leaves most often endowed, with rounded petioles. Blossoms numerous; single or several collected in the grooves of the leaves, in the upper parts of the stem and branches in clustered inflorescences. Duplicate calyx: outer sepals 3, more or less fused at the base, always shorter than the inner sepals; the last 5 growing to almost half. Petals 5, deeply incised at the apex, narrowed at the base into a thick silky fibrous nail; variegated, rarely yellow. Stamen tube on tip endowed with numerous petioles; usually densely fibrous; the anthers are whitish. Ovaries numerous with one ascending seedling, stamens numerous; styles lateral, filamentary, located along the inner surface of the styles. Fruit dry, crumbly, floppy, rounded, deciduous into 6 - 40 laterally flattened, rounded fruit shares; the latter usually unbroken, one-nested, one-seeded, arranged in a circle around the dome or disc-shaped tip of the blossom bed, the edges without wings. Insect pollinated; propagated by seeds.

From:   „Флора на Н Р България”, том VII, БАН, София, (1979)

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Lavatera[1] is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the familyMalvaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, central and eastern Asia, North America (California and Mexico) and Australia. A number of species are naturalized in North America.
All species previously placed in Lavatera have now been transferred to the related genus Malva. Lavatera species are known as tree mallows, or rather ambiguously as rose mallows, royal mallows or annual mallows.
The genus includes annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous plants and soft-wooded shrubs, growing from 1–3 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, and palmately lobed. The flowers are conspicuous, 4–12 cm diameter, with five white, pink or red petals; they are produced in terminal clusters.
Lavatera species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidopteraspecies including Bucculatrix lavaterella, which feeds exclusively on these plants. Flowers and seeds of several species are also used as food by humans.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Distribution in Bulgaria: (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.
Distribution:

References: „Флора на Н Р България”, том VII, БАН, София, (1979), Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SPECIES:

Lavatera thuringiaca L. - Garden tree-mallow

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