Tree Lavatera               lah-va-TEE-ra

• Broadleaf woody subshrub, to 8 ft (1.8 m) tall.  Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 lobed, to 9 × 9 cm.  Flowers solitary in axils of upper leaves or in loose terminal racemes, about 7 cm across.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 8      Native of south and central Europe to the western Himalaya.
• Several cultivars: ‘Barnsley’ is probably the best known, it has pale pink flowers with red centers, the petals pale to white.  It is a mutation of ‘Rosea’ which has darker pink flowers.  Woody subshrubs selections such as ‘Barnsley’ may actually be derived from L. olbia.   (see Macdonald, B. 1994. The British Invation. American Nurseryman 179(7):30-35.)
• thuringiaca: of the Thuringia region of Germany.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: south of CH₂M-Hill Alumni Center.