Eastern Tree-mallow

Malva thuringiaca (previously known as Lavatera thuringiaca), the garden tree-mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family

Malvaceae, native to eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from southern Germany south to Italy, and east to southern Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1.8 m tall. The leaves are up to 9 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with three or five lobes, and downy with greyish hairs. The flowers are pink, 3–6 cm diameter, with five petals; they are produced throughout the summer.

There are two subspecies:

Malva thuringiaca subsp. thuringiaca – Most of the species' range, except as below, Upper leaves bluntly lobed

Malva thuringiaca subsp. ambigua (DC.) Valdés – southern France, Italy, western Balkans, Upper leaves acutely lobed