Malva acerifolia
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| Malva acerifolia | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Malva |
| Species: | M. acerifolia
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| Binomial name | |
| Malva acerifolia | |
| Synonyms | |
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Malva acerifolia, synonyms Lavatera acerifolia, Malva canariensis, malva de risco in Spanish,[citation needed] is a shrub endemic to the Canary Islands, belonging to the family Malvaceae.
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1803 in the genus Lavatera by Antonio José Cavanilles as Lavatera acerifolia.[4] It was transferred to Malva by Friedrich Alefeld in 1862,[5][6] although this was not accepted by most other botanists until much later.[7] In 1842, the name "Malva acerifolia" had been mentioned by Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers in relation to a quite different North American species that Walpers called Sphaeralcea acerifolia (now Iliamna rivularis). On this basis, in 1998, Martin Forbes Ray published the replacement name Malva canariensis.[7] Although this is regarded as the correct name by some sources,[2] the International Plant Names Index treats Walpers' Malva acerifolia as erroneous so that the replacement name is unnecessary and hence superfluous and illegitimate.[3]
The Latin name acerifolia means 'maple-leaved'.[8]
Two varieties are recognised: the nominate form which is found on the western islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Gomera and La Palma, and M. acerifolia var. hariensis Svent. found on the eastern islands.[8]
Description
This plant grows into a small tree or shrub approximately 5ft. high.[4] It is easily recognisable in situ by means of its large flowers.[8] The branches are alternate, and the bark becomes ashy-coloured on older specimens. The leaves are also alternate. They are four to five inches in the first year, but then decrease in size to two to three in the following years, always being smaller than their petioles.[4] The leaves have a palmately lobed shape,[8] with five to seven, lanceolate, supple lobes, without teeth on their margins, each lobe with a corresponding vein down its centre leading to the base of the leaf. The stipules are awl-shaped.[4]
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Flower of the nominate variety
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The flowers are axillary and solitary, with somewhat bent peduncles, these being always much longer than the leaf petioles. The calyx is glabrous; the corolla is some three inches in diameter, and has five petals (sometimes a petal may be undeveloped), wider towards the end, and ending in a tip. Cavanilles describes the petals as coloured light pink, with dark purple streaks near the base, and the undersides white.[4] They have also been described as a very pallid lilac, almost white, with the base of the petals a more darker colour. The styles of the pistils and filaments of the stamens are bundled together like a column and are coloured purple. The pollen is globose and depressed in shape. There is one seed per compartment, these are arranged in a wheel, with the number of seeds corresponding to the number of the stigmas.[4]
Distribution
The shrub was first collected by the French biologist Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet on the island of Tenerife during his sojourn there at the turn of the 18th century. Broussonet was unable to complete his planned work on the flora of the island, but he sent a number of seeds to his friend Cavanilles, who described the species from plants grown from these seeds in his gardens.[4]
This species arrived in the Canary Islands from a Mediterranean origin and it is more recent than the other endemics to the islands, such as Navaea phoenicea, which colonized the islands earlier and independently from Lavatera acerifolia. Its closest relative is not known as there are some incongruencies between chloroplast and nuclear molecular markers.[citation needed]
Ecology
It grows in the lower elevations of these islands, in dry, sunny locations. It is a somewhat ruderal species, preferring nitrogen-rich soils, especially on disturbed ground or abandoned farmland.[citation needed]
It is pollinated by insects, especially by bees.[citation needed]
Conservation
The species is abundant and there are no threats against natural populations,[citation needed] however, the variety hariensis is included in the Catálogo Canario de Especies Protegidas with the status of endangered.[8]
References
- ^ "Malva acerifolia (Cav.) Alef.", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2018-01-30
- ^ a b "Malva canariensis", The Plant List, retrieved 2018-01-30
- ^ a b "Plant Name Details for Malva canariensis M.F.Ray", The International Plant Names Index, retrieved 2018-01-31
- ^ a b c d e f g Cavanilles, Antonio Josef (1803), "Observaciones bótanicas y descripcion de algunas plantas neuvas", Anales de Ciencias Naturales (in Spanish and Latin), 6 (16): 323–340, retrieved 2018-01-30, p. 339
- ^ "Plant Name Details for Malva acerifolia (Cav.) Alef.", The International Plant Names Index, retrieved 2018-01-31
- ^ Alefeld, F.G.C. (1862), "Uber die Malveen", Österreichische botanische Zeitschrift (in German), 12: 246–261, doi:10.1007/bf01962312, retrieved 2018-01-30, p. 258
- ^ a b Ray, Martin Forbes (1998), "New combinations in Malva (Malvaceae: Malveae)", Novon, 8 (3): 288–295, doi:10.2307/3392022, retrieved 2018-01-30
- ^ a b c d e Gil González, Manuel Luis (24 February 2020). "Malva acerifolia (Cav.) Alef". Flora Vascular de Canarias (in Spanish). Manuel Luis Gil González. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
External links
- Local information and in situ pictures showing slight differences in flower colouration between individuals on different islands.
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