Lavatera maritima

Lavatera maritima Gouan — Malvaceae. Perennial shrub native to the western Mediterranean basin, found in France on the Provençal and Corsican coasts, as well as in Spain, Italy, and North Africa. It colonizes maritime cliffs, coastal garrigues, limestone screes, and rocky slopes exposed to full light, often near the sea.

It forms a large, loose, and branched shrub, reaching 1 to 2 meters in height, with flexible and numerous stems. The leaves are lobed, slightly crenellated, covered with a grayish down that gives them a soft texture and a characteristic whitish appearance, very visible on the underside. This gray-green tomentum also covers the stems, giving the entire bush an ashen hue that distinguishes it at first glance in the garrigue.

The flowers, solitary in the leaf axils, are large — 4 to 6 cm in diameter — and remarkably delicate: the petals are a very pale pink, almost lilac, finely veined with more pronounced veins, contrasting with a vivid purple to carmine red center, framed by a well-visible green epicalyx. This combination of paleness and central intensity is one of the most elegant features of the species.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from April to July, with sometimes flowers until autumn. It requires poor, calcareous, very well-drained soil, in full sun, and tolerates sea winds and summer drought. Its hardiness is limited to about -8°C in dry soil.