Lavatera trimestris, L.

10. L. trimestris L. View in CoL , Sp. Pl. 692 (1753).

Annual; stems up to 120 cm, erect or ascending, more or less strigose with simple or few-rayed, deflexed hairs. Leaves 3-6 x 2-5-7 cm, suborbicularcordate, the upper somewhat 3- to 7-lobed. Flowers solitary in the leaf-axils; pedicel usually exceeding the subtending petiole. Epicalyx-segments shorter than the sepals, accrescent, united for most of their length, the free part broadly ovate, cuspidate; sepals 9-14 mm, oblong-lanceolate, acute, connivent in fruit; petals 2-4-5 cm, bright pink. Mericarps c. 12, glabrous, ridged, covered by a disc-like expansion of the central axis; dorsal face and angles rounded. Mediterranean region, Portugal; cultivated elsewhere in gardens and locally naturalized. BI Co Ga Gr Hs It?Ju Lu Sa Si [Rs (B, C, W, K)].