''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'', known colloquially as Chinese hibiscus, China rose, Hawaiian hibiscus, rose mallow and shoeblack plant, is a

cultigen A cultigen (), or cultivated plant, is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans, by means of genetic modification, graft-chimaeras, plant breeding, or wild or cultivated plant selection. These plants have commercial val ...

of tropical hibiscus, a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

Hibisceae Hibisceae is a tribe of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae. Genera The following genera are included: *'' Abelmoschus'' Medik. *'' Anotea'' ( DC.) Kunth *'' Cenocentrum'' Gagnep. *'' Decaschistia'' Wight & A ...

tribe of 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 Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

. It is an artificial hybrid created in cultivation in pre-European times by

Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...

in the west Pacific from the species '' Hibiscus cooperi'' and ''H. kaute''. It is widely 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 th ...

in the tropics and subtropics. The hibiscus is the

national flower In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used t ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, where it holds official status, and is also considered the unofficial national flower of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Description

Tree and leaves

''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is a bushy,

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

or small

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing tall and wide. The plant has a branched

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

. Its stem is aerial, erect, green, cylindrical, and branched. Its leaves are simple and petiolate, with alternate

phyllotaxy In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alterna ...

. The leaf shape is ovate while the tip is acute, and the margin is serrated.

Venation Venation may refer to: * Venation (botany), the arrangement of veins in leaves * Wing venation, the arrangement of veins in insect wings See also * * Vernation Vernation or leafing is the formation of new leaves or fronds. In plant anatomy, it ...

is unicostate reticulate, meaning the leaves' veins are branched or divergent. Their surfaces are glossy. Free lateral

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s are present.

Flowers

Its flowers bloom in summer and autumn. They are solitary (

axillary Axillary means "related to the axilla (armpit)" or "related to the leaf axils". "Axillary" may refer to: Biology * Axillary artery * Axillary border * Axillary fascia * Axillary feathers * Axillary hairs * Axillary lines * Axillary lymph nodes ...

) and symmetrical. They are typically red, with five petals in diameter, with prominent orange-tipped red

anthers The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

. Cultivars and hybrids have flowers in a variety of colors as well as red: white, pink, orange, peach, yellow, blue, and purple. Some plants have double flowers. Chinarose1

At the bottom of every

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

bud is the calyx, which is green in color. The pointed ends of the calyx are called the sepals. When the hibiscus begins to bloom, the flower's petals begin to grow. Each hibiscus flower has both male and female parts. The

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

and other female parts of the flower lie in the main structure of the hibiscus: the

pistil Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

, which is long and tubular. The five "hairy" spots at the top of the pistil make up the stigma, which is where

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

is collected. In the middle of the pistil is the style, which is the tube down which pollen travels to the ovary. The ovary lies at the bottom of the blossom, and each hibiscus has only one superior ovary. The male part of the flower, called the

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

, consists of stem-like filaments and anthers. Each filament ends with the pollen-producing

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

Taxonomy

''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' was first described as a species in 1753 by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

''. His description was based on specimens with double bright red flowers in cultivation in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The specific epithet ''rosa-sinensis'' literally means "rose of China", although the plant is not closely related to true roses, nor is it from China. The genus ''Hibiscus'' is in the tribe

and the subfamily

Malvoideae Malvoideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, which includes in the minimum the genus ''Malva''. It was first used by Burnett in 1835, but was not much used until recently, where, within the framework of the APG System, which unites th ...

of the family Malvaceae. The origin of the species has long been unknown; it has never been found out of cultivation. A study in 2024 based on molecular and morphological data showed that it is a hybrid created in cultivation by

through a cross between '' Hibiscus cooperi'' and '' Hibiscus kaute''. The parent species were originally from

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

respectively. The natural distributions of the parents are more than apart. ''H. kaute'' was important in

Polynesian culture Polynesian culture is the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. The development of Polynesian culture is typically divided into four different historical eras: * Exploration and ...

and medicine, which appears to have led to it being taken across the south Pacific, where it eventually hybridized with ''H. cooperi''.

Genetics

''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is one of many plants with a genetic characteristic known as

polyploidy Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

, a condition in which there are more than two complete sets of chromosomes. A result of polyploidy is that the

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

of a plant's offspring may be quite different from the parent plant, or indeed any ancestor, essentially allowing possibly random expression of any (or all) of the characteristics of previous generations. Because of this characteristic, ''H.'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' has become popular with hobbyists who cross and recross varieties, creating new varieties. Competitions are held to exhibit and judge the many resulting new seedlings and often strikingly unique flowers.

Ecology

Despite its size and colorful hues which are typically attractive to

nectarivore In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits ...

birds, the flowers of ''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' are not visited regularly by

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

s when grown in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

Generalist species A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different natural resource, resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet (nutrition), diet). A specialist species can ...

, like the sapphire-spangled emerald (''Amazilia lactea),'' or long-billed species, like the

stripe-breasted starthroat The stripe-breasted starthroat (''Heliomaster squamosus'') is a species of hummingbird in the "mountain gems", tribe Lampornithini in subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Brazil.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of ...

(''Heliomaster squamosus'') are occasionally seen to visit the flowers. In the subtropical and temperate

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, hummingbirds are regularly attracted to hibiscus. The endangered '' Papilio homerus'' butterfly, the largest in the western hemisphere, is known to feed on the nectar of ''H.'' × ''rosa-sinensis''.

Cultivation

''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is widely grown as an

throughout the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropics The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...

. As it does not tolerate temperatures below , in

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

regions it is best grown under glass. Plants grown in containers may be placed outside during the summer months and moved into shelter during the winter months. Numerous

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s exist, with flower colors ranging from white through yellow and orange to scarlet and shades of pink, with both single and double sets of petals. The cultivar 'Cooperi' has gained 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 ...

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

Uses

The flowers of ''H.'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' are edible and are used in salads in the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. The flower is used as an accessory, particularly as a hairpiece. It is also used to shine shoes in certain parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, hence the common name "shoeblack plant". In

and

, these flowers are called "kembang sepatu" or "bunga sepatu", which literally means "shoe flower". The flower can also be used as a pH indicator; when used, the flower turns acidic solutions to a dark pink or magenta color and turns basic solutions to green. In several countries the flowers are dried to use in a beverage, usually

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. ''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is considered to have a number of medical uses in

Chinese herbology Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...

. Traditional uses in China have been to make a black shoe-polish from its flower petals, or to make a woman's black

hair dye Hair coloring, or hair dyeing, is the practice of changing the color of the hair on humans' heads. The main reasons for this are cosmetic: to cover gray or white hair, to alter hair to create a specific look, to change a color to suit preferen ...

. The flowers are also used in parts of China to color various intoxicating liquors. The plant may have some potential in cosmetic skin care; for example, an extract from the flowers of ''H.'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' has been shown to function as an anti-solar agent by absorbing

ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...

In culture

''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is the

of Malaysia, called ''bunga raya'' in Malay. This can be translated in a number of ways, including "great flower" or "celebratory flower." Introduced into the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

in the 12th century, it was nominated as the national flower in the year 1958 by the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

amongst a few other flowers, namely ylang ylang,

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

, lotus,

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, and

medlar ''Mespilus germanica'', known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. When the genus ''Mespilus'' is included in the genus ''Crataegus'', the correct name for this species is ''Crataegus germa ...

. On 28 July 1960, it was declared by the government of Malaysia that ''H.'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' would be the national flower. The red of the petals symbolizes the courage, life, and rapid growth of the Malaysian people, and the five petals represent the five '' Rukun Negara'' of Malaysia. The flower can be found imprinted on the notes and coins of the

Malaysian ringgit The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. Issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia, it is divided into 100 cents ( M ...

. ''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' is an unofficial national flower in

, where it has been used as a symbol for the promotion of tourism. The flower is also the symbol of the

Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats The Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats (, ; , ) —also translated in some sources as ''Union of Haitian Social Democrats''— is a political party in Haiti. History The party was created shortly before the 2006 elections by Serge Gilles, who in ...

political party. It is known in

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

language as ''choeblack'' or ''rose kayenn''. Red hibiscus flowers are also used for worship; in Hinduism, they are used for the worship of

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

, and in the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

area of eastern India, they are used to worship

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

. The hibiscus also has an important part in

tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

Stamps

*In March 1987, DPR Korea issued a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

depicting ''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis''. *On 7 October 2012,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

issue
a stamp set of four
one of which depicted a ''Hibiscus'' × ''rosa-sinensis'' flower.

Gallery

Cultivars with flowers of many colours are used as ornamental plants. Some have double petals or have differently shaped petals. File:Cayena (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), jardín del molino, Sierra de San Felipe, Setúbal, Portugal, 2012-05-11, DD 02.JPG File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Brilliant' flower in private Austrian garden on 2014-09-20.png File:Orange Hibiscus1.jpg File:Starr 070313-5691 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.jpg File:Hibiscus A.JPG File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Rainbow Sherbet' flower in private Austrian garden on 2014-09-20.png File:3935 - Chinesischer Roseneibisch (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis).JPG File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis at FELDA Sungai Sayong, Johor 20250401 125635.jpg File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis white-pink.jpg File:Shoe Flower Dehradun 2009.jpg File:Pink Hibiscus at Sakherbazar ,Kolkata.jpg File:Starr 061223-2694 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.jpg File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Zijderveld, the Netherlands.JPG File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower in private Austrian garden on 2016-03-20.png File:Closeup of multi color Hibiscus at Sakherbazar, Kolkata.jpg File:Shoeblackplant in Bangladesh 4.jpg File:Shoeblackplant in Bangladesh 3.jpg File:Shoeblackplant in Bangladesh.jpg File:Hibiscus At Kerala.jpg File:Shoeblackplant (White Hibiscus).jpg File:Shoeblackplant (Light Pink Hibiscus).jpg File:朱槿 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 20201012185058 01.jpg File:朱槿 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 20201028130147 02.jpg File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Hong Kong Park, December 2019 03.jpg File:Hibiscus Plant.jpg File:Hibiscus Lamma Island Hong Kong 20191105 140532.jpg File:The rising china rose.jpg File:Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Notre Dame College.jpg

Notes

References

External links

* Baza Mendonça, Luciana & dos Anjos, Luiz (2005): Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil ummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil ortuguese with English abstract''Revista Brasileira de Zoologia'' 22(1): 51–59.
PDF fulltext
* * The International Hibiscus Society
International Hibiscus Society
* The American Hibiscus Society

Tropical Hibiscus
* The Australian Hibiscus Society Inc.

* Hibiscusmania (France)

* Hibiscusfreunde (Germany)
Hibiskusweb
* Hibiscus Forrest (Hungary)
Hibiscus Forrest - Leicester's Top Guide , Leicester top blog for business and life!

The Hibiscus
(Gurgaon) {{Malaysia topics Hibiscus, rosa-sinensis Garden plants of Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus National symbols of Malaysia Austronesian agriculture