Lavatera olbia L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lavatera olbia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lavatera/lavatera-olbia/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
cordate
Heart-shaped (i.e. with two equal lobes at the base).
involucre
A ring of bracts surrounding an inflorescence.
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
stellate
Star-shaped.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lavatera olbia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lavatera/lavatera-olbia/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

A soft-stemmed shrub 5 to 6 ft high, branching from the base; stems and leaves covered with white stellate hairs when young. Leaves up to 6 in. long, the lower ones three- to five-lobed, cordate at the base, the upper ones lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, slightly three-lobed or almost unlobed. Flowers short-stalked, borne singly or in pairs in the leaf-axils. Segments of the involucre almost equal in length to the calyx. Sepals of calyx triangular-ovate. Petals obovate, 58 to 118 in. long, purplish red. Segments of fruits hairy, yellowish when ripe, with rounded angles. It flowers from midsummer until autumn.

A native of the coasts of the W. Mediterranean, introduced before 1570. Although usually seen in herbaceous borders it is really more of a shrub than a herbaceous plant and is not out of place when planted with other sun-loving shrubs from the Mediterranean. It will grow in any soil that is not too wet or sour but is most at home on chalk. One of the localities in which it grows wild is the lies d’Hyères off the coast of France, known in Roman times as Olbia Gallo-provincialis.


'Rosea'

Flowers rose-coloured. Preferable to the wild form.