Hibiscus coulteri |
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis |
|
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Coulter's hibiscus, desert rose-mallow |
Chinese hibiscus, shoe-black plant |
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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. |
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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 |
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sonora, Zacatecas)
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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] |
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 | ||
Name authority | Harvey ex A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 23. (1852) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 694. (1753) |
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