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Hibiscus (Old Greek name for the Marsh)
(the old Greek name for the Marsh Mallow, used by Dioscorides). Including Lagunaea, Paritium, and Trionum. ORD. Malvaceae. An extensive genus, comprising about 150 species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy herbs, shrubs, or trees, natives, for the most part, of tropical regions, but occurring also in temperate ones. Flowers variable in colour, and usually showy. Leaves variable, often partite.
Cultivation. Stove or warm greenhouse species of Hibiscus succeed best either in large pots or when planted out. A compost of peat and fibry loam, not broken too finely, in about equal proportions, with the addition of a little charcoal or sand, will suit them admirably. Those grown for their flowers should be rested, and kept tolerably dry, throughout the winter. In spring, they require a little cutting in, and starting in a brisk, moist heat; afterwards applying plenty of heat and water throughout the summer. Some of the species, which succeed in a greenhouse all the summer, will require warmer quarters in winter. They are propagated from seed, and by cuttings, inserted in a close frame, in spring. H. r.-s. Cooperi is a free-growing plant, with ornamental foliage, requiring the same treatment in winter as other stove subjects. The hardy species succeed in ordinary garden soil, preferably in that which is sandy, and in a warm position. H. Trionum may be readily increased from seeds.
H. africanus (African). A synonym of H. Trionum.
H. Cameroni (Cameron's). fl. rosy; calyx large, inflated, five-lobed; petals obliquely cuneate-truncate, with a crimson blotch at the base of each. June and July. l. cordate, five-lobed, coarsely serrated; lobes acute, constricted at base. h. 1ft. Madagascar, 1837. Stove shrub. (B. M. 3936.) H. coccineus (scarlet).* fl. bright scarlet. July and August. l. long-stalked, five-parted; lobes lanceolate, remotely toothed, with entire tips. h. 4ft. to 8ft. Marshes of Florida and Georgia. Greenhouse perennial. (B. M. 360, under name of H. speciosus.) H. elatus (tall). fl. purplish-copper colour, large; peduncles very short, one-flowered; involucre ten-cleft. l. roundish-cordate, quite entire, downy-white beneath. h.50ft. West Indies, 1790. Stove. "Cuba Bast" is formed from the inner bark of this tree. SYN. Paratium elatum. H. ferox (fierce). fl. yellow; calyx pentagonal, hispid, inflated in front; peduncles axillary, twin, one-flowered. May to July. l. large, shining, cordate, five to seven-lobed, villous beneath; stipules cordate, acuminate. h. 3ft. New Grenada, 1844. A prickly stove shrub. (B. M. 4401.) H. Huegelii quinquevulnerus (Baron Huegel's five-spotted). A very handsome variety, with deep rose petals, paler below, and each petal having a black blood-coloured spot on the claw. August Swan River, 1853. Greenhouse. H. marmoratus (marbled).* fl. 2 1/2in. long, and as wide across the petals; peduncles solitary, axillary, stiff, much longer than the petioles, articulate above the middle; calyx tubular-campanulate, five-cleft almost to the middle; petals white, reticulately mottled with bright rose-pink, longer than the calyx, convolute into a tube below, spreading above; staminal column slender, exserted. February. l. on rather short petioles, variable in shape, bluntly toothed, dark green on the upper surface, paler below, 3in. to 4in. long, 2in. to 4in. broad. Mexico, 1854. Greenhouse shrub. (B. M. 5702.) H. militaris (military).* fl. rose-coloured; pedicels axillary, free from the petioles, one-flowered, and jointed above the middle. Summer. l. cordate, toothed, somewhat three-lobed, downy beneath. h. 2ft. to 4ft. United States. Hardy perennial. (B. M.2385.) H. Moscheutos (Moscheutos). fl. white, with a purplish centre, or sometimes pale purple, large; petioles and peduncles joined together; involucres and calyces downy. Summer. l. ovate, acuminated, serrated, downy beneath. h. 3ft. North America. Hardy. (S. B. F. G. 286.) H. pedunculatus (pedunculate). fl. deep rosy-red, showy, campanulate; petals cuneate-oblong, rounded at the apex; involucre of about eight linear segments. l. three-lobed, the lobes blunt, with toothed margins. Stems hairy. Natal. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Greenhouse shrub. (B. R. 231.) H. radiatus (rayed). fl. axillary, solitary, short-peduncled, very large; the exterior two-thirds of the petals yellow, and spreading horizontally; the inner third deep crimson, and formed into a bell. Summer. l. alternate, palmate, rarely simple; petioles armed, and nearly as long as the leaves. Branches armed with small prickles. India and Java. Stove shrub. H. r. flore-purpureo is a variety having fine rose-purple flowers. (B. M. 5098.) H. Lindlei (B. R. 1395), another with deep purple corollas. H. rosa-sinensis (Chinese Rose).* fl. varied in colouration, large, single, semi or wholly double; pedicels length of leaves; involucre seven-leaved. Summer. l. ovate, acuminated, smooth, entire at the base, but coarsely toothed at the apex. Stem unarmed, arboreous. h. 10ft. to 15ft. China, Japan, &c., 1731; cultivated for ornament throughout all tropical regions. Stove. Of the numerous varieties in cultivation, the following are the most noteworthy and desirable.
H. r.-s. brilliantissimum (very brilliant). fl. 5 1/2in. across, spreading, almost flat, but having a short funnel-shaped base, formed by the convergence of the bases of the petals, which are in that part stained with a deeper crimson, and overlapping each other so that they form a circular flower. H. r.-s. Callerii (Caller's). fl. buff-yellow, with a crimsonscarlet base. A very distinet and remarkable variety, with general character and habit of type.
H. r.-s. Cooperi (Cooper's).* fl. scarlet. l. irregularly ovate-lanceolate, cuneate at the base, bluntly serrated, vivid green, splashed and blotched with dark olive-green, creamy-white, and crimson, and margined with a broad and irregularly feathery border of reddish-carmine.
H. r.-s. fulgidus (shining).* fl. 5in. in diameter, of fine broad, rounded, and beautifully undulated petals, of an intense carmine-scarlet, paler and somewhat rosy tinted towards the base, where on each petal is an oblong blotch of deep crimson. l. broadly-ovate, serrated.
H. r.-s. miniatus semi-plenus (half-double vermilion). fl. vermilion-scarlet, semi-double; petals very much waved and recurved, forming an irregular undulated mass 4in. across. l. leathery, ovate, coarsely toothed. H. r.-s. vivicans (lively). fl. brilliant crimson-scarlet, 4in. to 5in. in diameter, the centre being completely filled up with broad, convolute petaloid processes.
H. r.-s. zebrinus (zebra-striped). fl. about 3 1/2in. in diameter, and 2 1/2in. deep, double; the five outer petals scarlet, edged with creamy-yellow in the lower part; staminal column entirely petaloid, with numerous irregular tufts at the apex, of a creamy-yellow colour, variously and irregularly striped and flaked with scarlet. The flowers are very irregular and grotesque in form.
H. roseus (rosy). fl. rose-coloured, large, axillary, solitary. l. large, broadly oval-acuminate, covered with white tomentum beneath. h. 3ft. Naturalised in marshy spots in France and elsewhere. Probably of New World origin. Hardy.
H. schizopetalus (cut-petaled).* fl. brilliant orange-red, pendulous, on slender peduncles; petals deeply cut or laciniated; the united filaments of the stamens closely surround the style, and the latter projects about 2in. beyond the corolla. A remarkable stove species. (B. M. 6524.) H. speciosus (showy). A synonym of H. coccineus.
H. splendens (splendid). fl. rose-coloured, very large; pedicels as long as the petioles; calyx 1in. long, deeply divided, densely tomentose or hispid. May. l. on long petioles, broadly ovate-cordate, or palmately three or five-lobed, often 6in. or 7in. long; lobes oblong-acuminate or lanceolate, often narrowed at base. h. 12ft. to 20ft. Australia, 1828. A beautiful, densely tomentose greenhouse shrub; branches and petioles bristly or prickly. (B. M. 3025; B. R. 1629.) H. syriacus (Syrian).* fl. varying much in colouration, large, single or double; pedicels hardly longer than the leaves; involucre six or seven-leaved. August. l. alternate, ovate, wedge-shaped, three-lobed, toothed. h. 6ft. Syria, 1596. Hardy deciduous shrub. SYN. Althaea frutex. The following are the most approved varieties: ALBO-LUTEOLUS PLENUS, ALBO-PLENUS, AMARANTHUS, AMPLISSIMUS, ANEMONAEFLORUS, ARDENS, BICOLOR HYBRIDUS, CARNEO-PLENUS, CCELESTIS, COERULEUS PLENUS, DUC DE BRABANT, DUCHESSE DE BRABANT, ELEGANTISSIMUS, FASTUOSUS, LEOPOLDII, MONSTROSUS, POMPON ROUGE, PUNICEUS PLENUS PURPUREUS VARIEGATUS, RANUNCULI-FLORUS, ROSEUS PLENUS, RUBRUS PLENUS, SPECIOSUS RUBRUS, TOTUS ALBUS, VIOLACEUS ATROPURPUREUS FLORE-PLENISSIMO, VIOLACEUS VARIEGATUS, VIOLET CLAIR (double).
H. Trionum (Trionum). Bladder Ketmia. fl. yellow, with a purple centre. Summer. l. cordate, palmately lobed; lobes linear. h. 2ft. Africa. Hardy annual. SYN. H. africanus.
Varieties. The varieties of H. rosa-sinensis and H. syriacus are very beautiful, especially those of the former. For this reason, only a few of the typical species are seen in our gardens, and these are much inferior to the varieties.