Lavatera trimestris

Annual lavatera, rose mallow, Rose Mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Annual lavatera is a naturalized plant found in western Southern California coastal areas and western Transverse Ranges, including Lauro Canyon in Santa Barbara County, growing near water edges and disturbed places at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces pink to lavender flowers with large, showy petals 2 to 5 centimeters long. Growing with erect stems 0.5 to 1 meter tall that are generally bristly, it has a distinctive upright habit. Its lower leaves are 3 to 12 centimeters wide, rounded to heart-shaped with crenate edges, while upper leaves are smaller with 3 to 7 shallow lobes that have acute to obtuse tips. The fruit develops with approximately 12 ridged segments covered by a disk-like expansion from the central axis.

Habitat: Water edge, disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: w SCo (Lauro Canyon, Santa Barbara Co.), WTR

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.