Lavatera assurgentiflora Kellogg

vernacular island mallow — species · Malvaceae

USDA: LAAS
GBIF: 8848691 syn.
Rank: species

island mallow (Lavatera assurgentiflora) — Platephotograph · David EickhoffCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Malvaceae Juss.
Genus: Lavatera

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 31 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 9–24 in/yr
pH range: 6.8–7.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 12 ft
Height @ 20 y: 5 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Red
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Indeterminate
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Rapid
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 144,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, container, tubers

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

California view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LAAS ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/8848691 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z