Malvaviscus Adans.

Latin malva—mallow; viscidus—sticky, referring to the sticky sap.

Hairy shrubs. Leaves cordate, generally lobed. Flowers axillary, stalked, red and showy, almost fuchsia-like with petals not spreading. Epicalyx of 7-12 segments. Staminal column projecting from the flower. Fruit of fleshy berry-like carpels eventually drying and separating.

Widely cultivated in the tropics but hardy in Melbourne.

Fruit a fleshy berry-like structure; stigmas twice the number of carpels; fuschsia-like scarlet flowers with the staminal column projecting from the flower.

3 species from tropical America.

Turner & Mendenhall (1993).

Source: Beers, L.; Spencer, R. (1997). Hibiscus. In: Spencer, R.. 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.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Malvales
family       Malvaceae
Higher taxa
Subordinate taxa
species         Malvaviscus arboreus Cav.