Lavatera cachemiriana

This species is grown frequently as an ornamental and garden plant. Most material belongs to Lavatera cachemiriana var. cachemiriana. Lavatera cachemiriana var. haroonii Abedin differs in having simple or 2- or 3-rayed hairs on the adaxial leaf surface, and it is endemic to Pakistan. Lavatera cachemiriana is closely related to L. thuringiaca Linnaeus and may only represent a minor variant of that species at the eastern edge of its range.

Perennial, stellate tomentose herbs. Leaves orbicular, 3-10 cm long, 3-7 cm broad, truncate or slightly cordate at base, crenate-serrate, upper surface with simple, fascicled or stellate hairs, lower surface densely stellate hairy, 3-7 angled or palmately fid to partite; lobes ovate or lanceolate, acute or obtuse, middle lobe longest; stipule linear-lanceolate, 5-10 mm long c. 2 mm broad; petiole 2-4 cm long. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicel 3-6 cm long jointed near the apex. Epicalyx segments 3, fused below the middle, 9-13 mm long, broadly ovate-orbicular, mucronate, accrescent in fruit. Calyx slightly longer than to twice the length of epicalyx, fused to the middle; lobes triangular to deltoid, acute or acuminate, accrescent in fruit. Corolla 4-7 cm across, pink-lilac; petals 3-5 cm long, 2-3.5 cm broad, obovate or oblong-obovate, deeply notched, gin long and densely hairy at base. Staminal tube 8-13 mm long, and densely hairy at base. Fruit discoid, 1-1.5 cm across; mericarps 20-25, glabrous, reniform, ± 3 mm long, shorter than central axis, dorsally ± 1 mm broad, transversely rugose, longitudinally carinate, radially smooth c. 2 mm broad. Seed glabrous, dark brown.

Herbs perennial, to 1 m tall, stellate pilose. Stipules filiform, ca. 8 mm, stellate tomentose; petiole 1-4 cm, stellate pilose; leaf blades dimorphic, basal leaf blades nearly orbicular, apical blades usually 3-5-lobed, 4-8 × 5-9 cm, lobes triangular, abaxially stellate tomentose, adaxially stellate pilose, base cordate, margin crenate, apex obtuse. Flowers in terminal subracemes or in axillary fascicles. Pedicel 4-8 cm, stellate pilose. Epicalyx lobes 3, broadly ovate, connate basally into cup ca. 1
cm, stellate tomentose, entire. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1.5 × 1.5 cm, 5-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, stellate tomentose, apex acuminate. Corolla reddish purple, ca. 8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 4 × 2 cm, basally densely stellate hairy, base acuminate, apex 2-divided. Staminal column ca. 1.5 cm, sparsely hirsute. Mericarps 20-25, reniform, glabrous. Fl. Jun-Aug.

NW Xinjiang [India, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan].

Sunny slopes, wet meadows; 500-2200 m.

Althaea cachemiriana (Cambessèdes) Kuntze ["kashmiriana"]; Lavatera cachemiriana var. haroonii Abedin.