Hibiscus schizopetalus
Hibiscus coccineus
Chinese lantern, fringe rose-mallow or hibiscus, fringe rosemallow
brilliant hibiscus, scarlet rose-mallow, Texas star
glaucous.
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.
stipules caducous, linear-subulate, 1–3 mm;
petiole 1/3 to equaling blade;
blade orbiculate to transversely elliptic, deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, 10–19 × 13–25 cm, base cordate, segments linear-lanceolate, margins remotely, unevenly serrate, apices acuminate, surfaces glabrous, nectary absent.
solitary flowers in axils of distal leaves.
solitary flowers in axils of distal leaves.
jointed at middle or distally, 7.5–15 cm;
involucellar bractlets 6–8, triangular, 0.06–0.18 cm, margins not ciliate.
jointed distally, 3–14 cm, 1/3–1 3/4 petioles;
involucellar bractlets 9–15, linear-subulate, 2.5–4 cm, not ciliate.
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.
showy, horizontal or ascending;
calyx divided 3/4 length, rotate, 3.5–6 cm, larger in and longer than fruit, lobes narrowly triangular, apices acute to acuminate, nectaries absent;
corolla rotate, petals not overlapping, bright red, narrowly spatulate-obovate, (6–)7.5–10 × 2.5–5.5 cm, minutely hairy abaxially where exposed in bud;
staminal column straight, exserted, red, pink to white basally, 6.5–7 cm, bearing filaments in distal 1/3, free portion of filaments not secund, 4–8 mm;
pollen dull yellow to dull red;
styles red, 5–9 mm;
stigmas red.
brown, oblong-cylindric, 3.5–4 cm, glabrous or puberulent.
brown, ovoid to globose, 2.8–3.5 cm, apex acute, apiculate, glabrous.
brown, angulately reniform-ovoid, 2–3 mm, smooth, glabrous or puberulent.
brown, reniform-globose, 2.5–3.8 mm, hairy, hairs often in lines, brownish to reddish.
= 34, 40, 42, 45 (all cultivars).
= 38.
Hibiscus schizopetalus
Hibiscus coccineus
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.)
Except for the Florida records and two very old ones from Georgia, the distribution of Hibiscus coccineus given here is based on relatively recent reports and almost certainly represents escapes from cultivation rather than a natural distribution.
A rare, white-flowered form is known from southern Florida and is now in the horticultural trade. Petal color in Hibiscus coccineus has been shown to be under the control of a simple diallelic locus in which red is completely dominant over white (L. A. Gettys 2012).
In 1871, A. W. Chapman found plants of Hibiscus coccineus in eastern Florida that bore distinctive, shallowly-lobed leaves and his specimens form the basis for H. semilobatus. No extant populations of this variant have been rediscovered.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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