Hibiscus engleri
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Image 1
Habit
23 Jun 2018
Image 2
Flower
23 Jun 2018
Image 3
Flower
23 Jun 2018
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Full name: | Hibiscus engleri K.Schum. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Wilde hibiskus |
| English common name(s): | Engler's hibiscus, Wild hibiscus, Stinging hibiscus |
| Synonym(s): | Hibiscus cordatus Harv. - non D.Dietr., nec Hochst. ex Webb(1860), non D.Dietr. (1847), nec Hochst. ex Webb (1854)-- misapplied name Hibiscus irritans R.A.Dyer Hibiscus microcalycinus Ulbr. Hibiscus subphysaloides Hochr. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Erect herb up to c. 15 m tall; stems tomentose or pubescent and rough with yellow stellate-setose or simple irritant hairs. Leaf-lamina up to 9 x 8 cm, ovate to suborbicular in outline, shallowly to rather deeply 3-5-lobed or 3-5-angled (occasionally not lobed), tomentose to densely pubescent and with stellate, 2-3-branched or simple bristles, apex acute to rounded, margin serrate, base cordate; petiole up to 8 cm long, hairy like the stems; stipules 3-4 mm long, filiform. Flowers 5-6 cm in diam., yellow with maroon or dark red centres, solitary in the axils of the upper leaves and in corymbose terminal or lateral racemes or panicles; peduncle up to 6 cm long, hairy like the stems, articulated near the apex. Epicalyx of 7-10 bracts; bracts 1.5-3.5 mm long, filiform, usually extending less than halfway to the sinuses formed by the calyx-lobes. Calyx up to c. 16 mm long; lobes triangular, joined at the base for 7-8 mm. Petals up to 5 x 4 cm, obovate, stellate-pubescent outside where not overlapped, glabrous within. Staminal tube 16 mm long; free parts of filaments 1-1.5 mm long. Style-branches 3-4 mm long. Capsule up to 15 x 9 mm, ellipsoid, setose, with awns up to 3 mm long. Seeds 2.5 x 2 mm, angular-subreniform, sparsely lepidote. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Zambesiaca) Erect herb, up to 1.5 m tall. Stems with yellowish simple and stellate, irritant hairs. Leaves ovate to almost round in outline, up to 9 x 8 cm, shallowly to deeply 3-5-lobed or 3-5-angled, with stellate and simple bristly hairs on both surfaces; base cordate; margin irregularly toothed. Petiole up to 8 cm long with hairs like the stems. Flowers solitary in the upper leaf axils, often forming apparent terminal racemes, yellow with a maroon or dark red centre, 5-6 cm in diameter. Epicalyx bracts 7-10, very short, up to 3.5 mm long, filiform. Calyx up to 16 mm long; lobes triangular, joined at the base for 7-8 mm. Fruit an ellipsoid capsule, 15 x 9 mm, bristly hairy, carpels awned up to 3 mm. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) Erect herb, up to 1.5 m tall. Dec - May in flower. This shrublet is easy to recognise by its yellow flower with a striking dark- reddish centre. The stems carry sharply pointed star-shaped bristles. The Wild Hibiscus is one of several yellow-flowered hibiscus typified by 5 large petals and branched style. These plants are slender shrubs or small trees with rough leaves and branches. The leaves are usually lobed with tooth margins and are covered with rough, star-shaped hairs. The large cup-shaped flowers are scattered along the branches on thin stalks. They are often yellow with a dark eye; the flowers are very delicate and last only a day before wilting; fresh ones open each morning. The stamens and stigmas are joined to form a conspicuous stalk in the centre of the flower. (from Africa Wild website) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
