Canary Islands Flora Garden

Malvaceae

Navaea phoenicea (Vent.) Webb & Berthel.

Crimson mallow, castor bean plant

The red rock mallow is a shrub endemic to the island of Tenerife, restricted to a few natural populations. It is a small, fairly branched tree that goes dormant in summer, shedding all its leaves and sprouting new flowers in late summer, before the leaves appear. Its leaves are dark green (turning yellow when withered), palmate, and have long petioles. Its flowers develop in small clusters at the ends of the branches, and their petals are salmon-colored.