''Malvaviscus arboreus'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

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 ...

, that is native to the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. The specific name, ''arboreus'', refers to the

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

-like appearance of a mature plant. It is now popular in cultivation and goes by many English names including wax mallow, Turk's cap (mallow), Turk's turban, sleeping hibiscus, manzanilla, manzanita (de pollo), ladies teardrop and Scotchman's purse; many of these common names refer to other, in some cases unrelated, plants. Its

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 do not open fully and help attract

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

Distribution

''Malvaviscus arboreus'' is native to Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States, particularly as an understory shrub in coastal Texas and Louisiana.

Habitat and ecology

''Malvaviscus arboreus'' is a common understory shrub where it occurs in Texas and is an important food source for female and juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbirds ('' Archilochus colubri'') and Black-chinned Hummingbirds ('' A. alexandri''). Each individual flower lasts two days but contains more nectar on the first day. An example occurrence of ''M. arboreus'' is within the coastal Petenes mangroves of the Yucatán region of Mexico, in which plant community it is a subdominant species. ''M. arboreus'' is the primary host plant for the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of the Turk's-cap White-Skipper ('' Heliopetes macaira'').

Cultivation

''Malvaviscus arboreus'' is commonly cultivated in shady to sunny sites in butterfly and hummingbird gardens across the southern United States. It can be propagated from fresh seeds or from softwood cuttings. It often blooms from May through November, but will bloom throughout a mild winter.

Varieties

* ''Malvaviscus arboreus'' var. ''arboreus'' * ''Malvaviscus arboreus'' var. ''drummondii'' ( Torr. &

A.Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His '' Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually exc ...

) Schery (= ''Malvaviscus drummondii'' Torr. & A.Gray) * ''Malvaviscus arboreus'' var. ''mexicanus''

Schltdl. Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal (27 November 1794, Xanten – 12 October 1866, Halle an der Saale, Halle) was a German botanist. He studied in Berlin, in 1819 becoming curator of the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Royal Herbarium. He was ...

References

arboreus Plants described in 1787 Flora of Central America Flora of Mexico Flora of Southern America Flora of Texas Flora of the Southeastern United States Butterfly food plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Hibisceae-stub