Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Linnaeus

Sp. Pl. 2: 694. 1753.

Common names: Chinese hibiscus shoe-black plant
Introduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 6. Treatment on page 261. Mentioned on page 253, 254, 262.

Shrubs or trees, 1–3 (–5) m. Stems: new growth finely and sparingly stellate or simple-hairy. Leaves: stipules linear to lanceolate, 8–16 mm; petiole usually to 1/3 blade, adaxial groove hairy with minute, ± sinuous hairs, sometimes villous; blade ovate, unlobed or only very rarely lobed, 5–12 × 3–8.5 cm, base rounded to cuneate, margins coarsely serrate in distal 2/3–3/4, apex acute to short-acuminate, surfaces glabrate, nectary present abaxially on midvein near base. Inflorescences solitary flowers, in axils of distal leaves. Pedicels jointed closer to flower, 4–9.5 cm, sparsely stellate-pilose or ± glabrous; involucellar bractlets 6–8, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 0.3–2.2 cm, width varying in same flower, margins not ciliate, surface and margins puberulent or glabrate. Flowers showy, horizontal or declinate, sometimes double; calyx divided 1/2–3/4 length, narrowly campanulate, 2–3 cm, lobes triangular or narrowly so, apices acute to acuminate, often minutely, sparingly hairy, nectaries absent; corolla funnelform to rotate or petals slightly reflexed, petals usually red, sometimes pink, white, or yellow (or other colors in horticultural forms), usually darker at base, broadly to narrowly obovate, 6–10.5 × 4–6.5 cm, margins entire or crenate, often undulate, finely hairy abaxially mostly where exposed in bud; staminal column straight or moderately curved, usually red, often pink or white, 6.5–11.5 cm, bearing filaments in distal 1/2; free portion of filaments not secund, 3–9 mm, pollen yellow; styles red, pink, or white, 6–15 mm; stigmas usually reddish, sometimes golden yellow. Capsules seldom produced, brown, ovoid, 2.5–3 cm, apex rounded or beaked, glabrous. Seeds (rarely produced in cultivation), dark-brown to black, reniform, 5 mm, minutely pubescent. 2n = 36, 46, 54, 63, 68, 72, 77, 84, 90, 92, 96, 112, 132, 144, 147, 150, 160, 165, 168, 180, 225 (all cultivars).


Phenology: Flowering year-round.
Habitat: Disturbed sites
Elevation: 0–50 m

Distribution

V6 470-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Calif., Fla., also in Mexico, West Indies, Bermuda, Central America, South America, s Asia, Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia

Discussion

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is widely cultivated in the Tropics and subtropics, often as a hedge plant; it naturalizes sparingly, probably throughout its cultivated range. It is not known to exist anywhere as a native occurrence; it has been thought to have originated in China (C. Linnaeus 1753), Africa (J. van Borssum Waalkes 1966; A. C. Smith 1979–1996, vol. 2), or the New World Tropics (L. van der Pijl 1937; G. F. Carter 1954; see also H. D. V. Prendergast 1982). As broadly circumscribed here, H. rosa-sinensis includes a wealth of hybrids and other selections and, as its range of chromosome numbers suggests, it has had a complicated history in cultivation (F. Singh and T. N. Khoshoo 1970), which probably includes hybridization with the African H. schizopetalus and the Hawaiian H. arnottianus A. Gray, H. kokio Hillebrand, and H. waimeae A. Heller (E. V. Wilcox and V. S. Holt 1913). It usually fails to set seed and is generally propagated by cuttings.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"varying" is not a number."/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Hibiscus rosa-sinensis"
225 +, 180 +, 168 +, 165 +, 160 +, 150 +, 147 +, 144 +, 132 +, 112 +, 96 +, 92 +, 90 +, 84 +, 77 +, 72 +, 68 +, 63 +, 54 +, 46 +  and 36 +
villous +  and hairy +
glabrous +  and hairy +
beaked;rounded;acute;acuminate +
Orland J. Blanchard Jr. +
Linnaeus +
rounded +  and cuneate +
asymmetric +  and symmetric +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
lobed +, unlobed +  and ovate +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (8.5 cm85 mm <br />0.085 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
narrowly lanceolate +  and narrowly triangular +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br />) +
not spathaceous +
persistent +
campanulate +  and divided +
accrescent +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
indehiscent +  and loculicidal +
Chinese hibiscus +  and shoe-black plant +
Calif. +, Fla. +, also in Mexico +, West Indies +, Bermuda +, Central America +, South America +, s Asia +, Africa +, Indian Ocean Islands +, Pacific Islands +  and Australia +
0–50 m +
sparse;copious +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
pistillate +  and staminate +
declinate +  and horizontal +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
spheroid +  and ovoid +
simple-hairy +
Disturbed sites +
sinuous +
minute +
tough-fibrous +
connate +  and distinct +
simple +, stipulate +, sessile +, subsessile +  and petiolate +
distichous +  and alternate +
narrowly +  and triangular +
hairy +, glabrate +  and puberulent +
undulate;crenate;entire +
wedge--shaped +
5-carpellate +
8 +  and 60 +
glabrous +  and stellate-pilose +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (9.5 cm95 mm <br />0.095 m <br />) +
darker;yellow;white;yellow;white;pink;red +
adnate +  and distinct +
6cm;10.5cm +
obovate +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (?) +  and 6.5 cm65 mm <br />0.065 m <br /> (?) +
0 +  and 1/3 +
Flowering year-round. +
dark-brown +  and black +
not +  and papillose +
reniform +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +
persistent +
Introduced +
sessile +  and subsessile +
white +, pink +  and red +
curved +  and straight +
exserted +  and included +
6.5 cm65 mm <br />0.065 m <br /> (11.5 cm115 mm <br />0.115 m <br />) +
golden yellow +  and reddish +
wedge--shaped +  and discoid +
1-2 times number of carpels +
linear +  and lanceolate +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br />) +
white +, pink +  and red +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
glabrate +  and puberulent +
Mallow +
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis +
Hibiscus +
species +
300 cm3,000 mm <br />3 m <br /> (500 cm5,000 mm <br />5 m <br />) +
perennial +  and annual +
tree +  and shrub +
hairy +  and glabrous +
monoecious +, dioecious +  and hermaphroditic +
[27 +, 26 +, [20 +, 19 +, 18 +, 15 +  and 17 +