''Hibiscus schizopetalus'' is a species of '' Hibiscus'' native to tropical eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Its common names include fringed rosemallow, Japanese lantern, coral hibiscus, and spider hibiscus.

Description

''Hibiscus schizopetalus'' is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing to tall. The red or pink

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are very distinctive in their frilly, finely divided petals.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan . Flowers with finely dissected petal have a range of colours, the most common being the red form (Keena ''et al''., 2002; Ng, 2006). Leaves resemble those of ''H. rosa-sinensis''. The major

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...

found in flowers of ''H. schizopetalus'' is cyanidin-3-sambusophoroside (Lowry, 1976). From leaves, two new triterpene esters have been isolated (Jose & Vijayan, 2006).

Uses

Cultivation

''Hibiscus schizopetalus'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, for use in tropical and subtropical gardens. In

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

s it does not tolerate temperatures below (RHS

hardiness rating A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

H1B); but can be placed outside during the summer months, in a sheltered spot with full sun, in

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

or neutral soil. It has received the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Gallery

File:Detail of Hibiscus schizopetalus in Fata Morgana in winter 2012 (1).JPG Image:Japanese Lantern (Hibiscus schizopetalus).jpg Hibiscus schizopetalus at the Iguazu Falls (Argentina).jpg

References

External links

*Jose, E.A. & Vijayan, K.K. (2006). “New taraxerane esters from ''Hibiscus schizopetalus'' leaves”. ''Indian Journal of Chemistry, Section B Organic and Medicinal Chemistry'' 45(5): 1328–1331. *Keena, C., Yanker-Hansen, K., Marcos Capelini, M. (2002). “Marvellous mallows”. http://www.internationalhibiscussociety.org/hiv1n11-1.htm#1. *Lowry, J.B. (1976). “Floral anthocyanins of some Malesian Hibiscus species”. ''Phytochemistry'' 15: 1395–1396. *Ng, F.S.P. 2006. “Tropical Horticulture and Gardening”. Clearwater Publications, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 361 pp. * schizopetalus Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of Kenya Flora of Mozambique Flora of Tanzania Garden plants of Africa {{Hibisceae-stub