Lavatera phoenicea

taxobox
name = "Lavatera phoenicea"

---

image_caption = "Lavatera phoenicea" flowers
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
unranked_ordo = Rosids
ordo = Malvales
familia = Malvaceae
genus = "Lavatera"
species = "L. phoenicea"
binomial = "Lavatera phoenicea"
binomial_authority = Vent.|

"Lavatera phoenicea" (syn. "Althaea phoenicea" Kuntze [ [http://www.malvaceae.info/Synonymy/Synonymy.php?file=Lavatera Synonymy of "Lavatera" at Malvaceae Info] ] , "Lavatera coccinea" Dietr. ex DC and "Navaea phoenicea" Webb. [ [http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Lavatera/Navaea.html "L. phoenicea" at Malvaceae Info] ] ) is a large shrub belonging to the family Malvaceae and tribe Malveae. Webb and Berthelot included this plant in the separate, monotypic genus "Navaea", dedicated to Marqués de Nava, the one who created the botanical garden in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife (Jardín de Aclimatación de la Orotava). The reason for including this species in a separate genus was the presence of nectaries in the base of each petal, which is unique in the Malveae tribe. In addition, this plant is endemic to the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands). Published studies (and some recent others not published yet) using molecular markers (chloroplast and ITS sequences) support this separation, as phylogenetic trees show "L. phoenicea" in a basal position in relation to the rest of "Lavatera-Malva" complex, and thus, as a palaeoendemic taxa.This plant presents a clear bird pollination syndrome, a phenomenon shared with another 12 Macaronesian endemics (genus "Muschia", "Lotus", "Isoplexis", "Canarina", "Echium" and "Scrophularia"). This bird pollination syndrome is pretty rare in these latitudes and seems to have independent origins according to phylogenies of each lineage.

"L. phoenicea" is very rare and it is threatened. It grows only in northern cliffs in the ancient zones of Anaga and Teno mountains.

References