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.

[5] This plant presents a clear bird pollination syndrome, a phenomenon shared with another 12 Macaronesian endemics (genus Musschia, Lotus, Isoplexis, Canarina, Echium and Scrophularia).

This bird pollination syndrome is pretty rare in these latitudes and seems to have independent origins according to phylogenies of each lineage.

[5] Legally, the regional government declared the species to be a "protected plant" in 1991 and the species was listed in the 2001 Catálogo de Especies Amenazadas de Canarias, these law were superseded by the 2010 Catálogo Canario de Especies Protegidas law in which it was included in as a plant 'important to the ecosystems of the Canary Islands'.