Lavatera trimestris

Lavatera trimestris, Queen Mallow, Rose Mallow,
Hebrew: מעוג אפיל, Arabic: لافترية فصلية

Scientific name:   Lavatera trimestris L.
Common name:   Queen Mallow, Rose Mallow
Hebrew name:   מעוג אפיל
Hebrew name:   لافترية فصلية
Family:   Malvaceae, חלמיתיים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   70-140 cm high; green, developing an indistinct reddish tint with age, sparsely hairy
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, dentate or serrate
Flowers:   Calyx of 5 sepals, corolla of 5 pink petals, an androecium and a gynoecium of 12 or more styles
Fruits / pods:   Schizocarp divided into around 12 ridged, seed-bearing, mericarps, covered by a disc-like expansion of the central axis
Flowering Period:   March, April, May, June
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Lavatera, named after the brothers, Johann Heinrich Lavater (1611-1691) and Johann Jacob Lavater(1594-1636), Swiss (Zurich) physicians and naturalist.

trimestris, of or pertaining to three months; of three months.
The Hebrew name: מעוג, maog, probably from מעוג, maog, round cake (a hapax legomenon in the Bible, occurring Kin. I 17:12). probably related to עוגה, uga (=cake).

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.