''Hibiscus heterophyllus'', commonly known as native rosella or toilet paper bush, is a flowering plant in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

. It a shrub or small tree with white, pale pink or yellow flowers with a dark red centre and grows in New South Wales and Queensland.

Description

''Hibiscus heterophyllus'' is a shrub or small tree with more or less smooth, prickly stems. The lower leaves are egg-shaped or with 3-5 lobes, upper leaves are narrowly oval shaped to narrowly lance shaped and long. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils, calyx lobes lance-shaped, long with a dense covering of rusty-coloured star shaped, short, matted hairs. The flower corolla long, pale pink, white or yellow with a dark red centre. The fruit is long and covered with straw-coloured short, soft, upright hairs. Flowering occurs from spring to summer.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hibiscus heterophyllus'' was first formally described in 1805 by

Étienne Pierre Ventenat Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794). While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, V ...

and the description was published in ''Jardin de la Malmaison''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''(heterophyllus)'' means "different" and "leaved" with reference to having varying shaped leaves.

Distribution and habitat

This species is usually found in open forest, rainforest or nearby, from north-east Queensland to the south coast of New South Wales.

References

Image:Hibiscus heterophyllus fruit.jpg, Fruit Image:Hibiscus heterophyllus buds 01.jpg, Flower buds Image:Hibiscus heterophyllus Chatswood West.jpg {{Taxonbar, from=Q3019015 Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland heterophyllus Malvales of Australia Drought-tolerant trees Trees of Australia