Lavatera thuringiaca
Common name: 
Tree Lavatera
Pronunciation: 
lah-va-TEE-ra thur-in-jee-AH-kuh
Family: 
Malvaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf woody subshrub, to 8 ft (1.8 m) tall.  Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 lobed, to 9 × 9 cm.  Flowers solitary in axils of upper leaves or in loose terminal racemes, about 7 cm across. Fruit is a dry and indehiscent which splits into about 20 sections (carpels).
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 8      Native of south and central Europe to the western Himalaya.
  • Several cultivars, but ‘Barnsley’ (shown here) is probably the best known.  It has pale pink flowers with red centers, the petals pale to white.  It is a mutation of ‘Rosea’ which has darker pink flowers.  Woody subshrubs selections such as ‘Barnsley’ may actually be derived from L. olbia.   (see Macdonald, B. 1994. The British Invation. American Nurseryman 179(7):30-35.)
  • thuringiaca: of the Thuringia region of Germany.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: south of CH2M-Hill Alumni Center.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, flowering

    plant habit, flowering

  • plant habit, flowering

    plant habit, flowering

  • flowers and leaves

    flowers and leaves

  • flowers

    flowers

  • flowers

    flowers

  • leaves

    leaves