Hibiscus coulteri |
Hibiscus schizopetalus |
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Coulter's hibiscus, desert rose-mallow |
Chinese lantern, fringe rose-mallow or hibiscus, fringe rosemallow |
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Habit | Subshrubs, to 2 m, herbage with appressed-stellate and simple hairs throughout. | Shrubs or trees, to 3(–5) m. Stems: new growth essentially glabrous, lines of curved hairs absent. |
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 narrowly triangular, 1–2.5 mm; petiole to 1/3 blade, adaxial groove hairy with minute, ± sinuous hairs; blade lanceolate-ovate to ovate, unlobed, 3.5–10.5 × 1.5–4 cm, base rounded to cuneate, margins coarsely serrate in distal 2/3–3/4, apex acute to short-acuminate, ± pinnately veined, 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 at middle or distally, 7.5–15 cm; involucellar bractlets 6–8, triangular, 0.06–0.18 cm, margins not ciliate. |
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. |
pendulous; calyx divided 1/8–1/2 length, often 3-lobed, tubular to narrowly funnelform, (1–)1.4–2 cm, lobes broadly triangular, apices acute to obtuse, glabrate, neither accrescent nor inflated, nectaries absent; petals strongly recurved, rose-pink to red, darker on veins, broadly to narrowly obovate, deeply and irregularly pinnatifid-laciniate, 4–6.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, glabrous; staminal column straight or curved apically, pendulous, pink to red, 5.5–9 cm, bearing filaments in distal 1/3–1/2, free portion of filaments not secund, 4.5–7.5 mm; pollen yellow; styles pink to red, 7–15 mm; stigmas pink to red. |
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. |
brown, oblong-cylindric, 3.5–4 cm, glabrous or puberulent. |
Seeds | dark brown, angulately reniform-ovoid, 2.4–3 mm, silky-hairy ± throughout. |
brown, angulately reniform-ovoid, 2–3 mm, smooth, glabrous or puberulent. |
2n | = 34, 40, 42, 45 (all cultivars). |
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Hibiscus coulteri |
Hibiscus schizopetalus |
|
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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FL; e Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, s Asia, elsewhere in Africa, 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.) |
Apparently native only in Kenya, Tanzania, and perhaps Mozambique, Hibiscus schizopetalus is widely cultivated in the Tropics and occasionally escapes. The occurrence in many H. rosa-sinensis cultivars of semipendulous, long-pedicelled flowers with variously crenate, undulate petals suggests the involvement of H. schizopetalus. Hybrids between H. schizopetalus and H. rosa-sinensis can be called H. ×archeri W. Watson. Typification of H. schizopetalus was discussed by M. Cheek (1989). (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 | ||
Synonyms | H. rosa-sinensis var. schizopetalus | |
Name authority | Harvey ex A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 23. (1852) | (Dyer) Hooker f.: Bot. Mag. 106: plate 6524. (1880) |
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