 "M. phoenicea" is very rare and it is threatened.It grows only in northern cliffs in the massifs of Anaga and Teno, on Tenerife.This plant presents a clear bird pollination syndrome, a phenomenon shared with another 12 Macaronesian endemics (genus "Muschia", "Lotus", "Isoplexis", "Canarina", "Echium" and "Scrophularia").