Malvarrisco rosada (Lavatera acerifolia)

Erect shrub, highly branched, up to 3 m. Foliage is generally deciduous. Leaves are palmate (palmately lobed), with long petioles, herbaceous and light green. Flowers are large, up to 8 cm across, and borne singly or in small clusters at the tip of the branches. Very striking, pink or whitish towards the tip, with a mauve centre. Fruits are globose or rather flattened and contain a large number of brown seeds. This native of the Canary Islands has two varieties: L. acerifolia is found in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera and La Palma, while the much less common and localized L. hariensis appears in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, though only very few specimens exist on both islands. A characteristic feature of thermophile woodland and scrub, it grows on hillsides and rocky crags from 200-500 m and is locally common in Tenerife and Gran Canaria.