The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Coulter's hibiscus, desert rose-mallow

Chinese hibiscus, shoe-black plant

Habit Subshrubs, to 2 m, herbage with appressed-stellate and simple hairs throughout. Shrubs or trees, 1–3(–5) m. Stems: new growth finely and sparingly stellate- or simple-hairy.
Stems

stellate hairs of younger stems dense, appressed, 4-armed, arms approximate in pairs, aligned with stem axis, lines of fine, curved hairs absent or obscured;

older growth grayish, rough, glabrescent.

Leaves

stipules linear-subulate, 3–10 mm;

petiole primarily in distal 1/2, sometimes themselves shallowly pinnately lobed, surfaces scabridulous, hairs appressed-stellate, obscure nectary present abaxially on midvein near base.

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.

solitary flowers, in axils of distal leaves.

Pedicels

jointed below apices, to 17 cm, usually much exceeding subtending leaves;

involucellar bractlets 8–14, linear-subulate, 1–2 cm, margins ciliate.

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

erect or ascending;

calyx divided 3/4+ length, funnelform, 1.4–2.2 cm, equaling or slightly exceeding involucel, lobes narrowly lanceolate-triangular, margins ciliate, apices attenuate, nectaries absent;

corolla rotate, petals yellow to cream, usually with dark to obscure maroon lines basally, asymmetrically obovate to broadly obovate, 1.6–4 × 1–3.5 cm, margins ± entire, sparingly hairy abaxially where exposed in bud;

staminal column straight, yellow or cream, 0.6–1.4 cm, bearing filaments throughout, free portion of filaments not secund, 1–3 mm;

pollen yellow-orange;

styles cream, 1.5–5 mm;

stigmas maroon or cream.

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

pale olivaceous gray with darker median stripe on each valve, ovoid or ellipsoid, 0.7–1.7 cm, to 2/3 calyces, apex rounded, hairy near apex or glabrous throughout.

seldom produced, brown, ovoid, 2.5–3 cm, apex rounded or beaked, glabrous.

Seeds

dark brown, angulately reniform-ovoid, 2.4–3 mm, silky-hairy ± throughout.

(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).

Hibiscus coulteri

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Phenology Flowering nearly year-round. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Desert, rocky slopes Disturbed sites
Elevation 600–1600 m (2000–5200 ft) 0–50 m (0–200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sonora, Zacatecas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; FL [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Bermuda, Central America, South America, s Asia, Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Hibiscus coulteri has been recorded in the southern half of Arizona; in Otero County, New Mexico; and in the region west of the Pecos River in Texas.

A naturally occurring hybrid between Hibiscus coulteri and H. denudatus (Hibiscus ×sabei Weckesser) has recently been documented from western Texas (W. Weckesser 2011).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 256. FNA vol. 6, p. 261.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Hibiscus Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Hibiscus
Sibling taxa
H. acetosella, H. aculeatus, H. biseptus, H. clypeatus, H. coccineus, H. dasycalyx, H. denudatus, H. furcellatus, H. grandiflorus, H. laevis, H. martianus, H. moscheutos, H. mutabilis, H. poeppigii, H. radiatus, H. rosa-sinensis, H. schizopetalus, H. striatus, H. syriacus, H. trionum
H. acetosella, H. aculeatus, H. biseptus, H. clypeatus, H. coccineus, H. coulteri, H. dasycalyx, H. denudatus, H. furcellatus, H. grandiflorus, H. laevis, H. martianus, H. moscheutos, H. mutabilis, H. poeppigii, H. radiatus, H. schizopetalus, H. striatus, H. syriacus, H. trionum
Name authority Harvey ex A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 23. (1852) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 694. (1753)
Web links