About Roldana petasitis (Sims) H.Rob. & Brettell
Roldana petasitis (Sims) H.Rob. & Brettell is an evergreen subshrub that grows best in consistently warm conditions and favors sheltered garden spaces. It reaches a maximum height of 1.8 meters, with weak stems and large, palmate leaves covered in soft hairs that show distinct venation. Its leaves grow up to 20 centimeters in both length and width, and have seven or more broad, blunt lobes. This species is native from the subtropical highlands of Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico, south to the tropical regions of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Climatically, it occurs in tropical savanna climates that transition into drier semi-arid or temperate wet/dry areas, ranging from Veracruz in the north to Nicaragua in the south. It grows in both pine-oak forests and mountain cloud forests at elevations between 1,000 meters and 2,500 meters. The 'cristobalensis' variety of this species is found in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, and in Guatemala, at elevations between 1,000 meters and 1,600 meters. Roldana petasitis is naturalized in parts of southeastern Australia and New Zealand. In its native Neotropic range, it occurs in southwestern Mexico in Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Oaxaca, and in Mesoamerica in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
