Evergreen shrub. Leaves alternate, ovate to elliptic to about 6 cm long hairless; margin saw-toothed, mostly in upper half. Leaf stalks to c.2.5cm long. Flowers solitary on stalks mostly 10-15 cm long. Epicalyx of 5-8 short bracts to about 2 mm long. Petals bent back, to 5 cm long and finely divided, red with pink veins. Staminal column much longer than the petals, thin, dark purple; summer to autumn.
E Tropical Africa
A highly ornamental species that has been used in breeding experiments with Hawaiian species, also H. rosa-sinensis to produce a range of cultivars with variously divided petals.
Source: (1997). Hibiscus. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
