 In 1836 Webb and Berthelot separated this plant from other "Lavatera" in a new, then monotypic genus "Navaea", named for Alonso de Nava y Grimón, (1757-1832), founder of the botanical garden in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife (Jardín de Aclimatación de la Orotava).The reason for including this species in a separate genus was the presence of nectaries in the base of each petal, which is unique in the tribe Malveae.Published studies using molecular markers (chloroplast and ITS sequences) support this separation, as phylogenetic trees show "M. phoenicea" in a basal position in relation to the rest of "Lavatera-Malva" complex, which would indicate it arrived on the islands in the distant past, when the genus "Malva" was just beginning to differentiate.