Hibiscus acetosella

Welwitsch ex Hiern

Cat. Afr. Pl. 1: 73. 1896.

Common names: African rose-mallow red-leaf or cranberry hibiscus false roselle
Introduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 6. Treatment on page 260. Mentioned on page 252, 253, 254.

Subshrubs, 1–2 (–4) m, herbage usually dark red throughout, glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy. Stems with line of fine, curved hairs. Leaves: stipules linearlanceolate, (8–) 10–15 mm; petiole 1/2 to ± equaling blade, with fine, curved hairs adaxially; blade usually dark red, broadly to transversely ovate, usually deeply 3–5-lobed, 4–10 × 3.5–10 cm, base broadly cuneate to truncate, margins crenate or crenate-serrate, apex acute to acuminate, lobes narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, surfaces glabrate, prominent slitlike nectary present abaxially on midvein near base. Inflorescences solitary flowers in axils of distal leaves, sometimes together appearing racemose by reduction of subtending leaves. Pedicels jointed near middle, to 1.2 cm; involucellar bractlets 8–10, terete, 0.6–1.6 cm, margins setose, apices 2-fid or appendaged. Flowers horizontal; calyx divided nearly 2/3 length, funnelform-campanulate, 1.2–2 cm, lobes triangular, with 3 prominent ribs, 2 marginal, 1 medial, medial bearing nectary, apices acuminate, veins setose with pustular-based, simple hairs; corolla funnelform-rotate, petals cream, yellow, or dull pink to dull red with veins usually darker-pink, maroon basally, asymmetrically obovate, 3–5.5 × 2.5–4.5 cm, margins repand, finely hairy abaxially where exposed in bud; staminal column straight, maroon, 1.5–2.5 cm, bearing filaments nearly throughout, free portion of filaments not secund, 1.5–2.5 mm; pollen yellow; styles maroon, to 1 mm; stigmas maroon. Capsules reddish-brown, ovoid, 1.6–2.5 cm, apex acute or short-acuminate, weakly antrorsely hispid with simple, scattered, loose hairs. Seeds olivaceous brown, angulately reniform-ovoid, 3.5–4 mm, papillose-scaly, scales pectinate. 2n = 72.


Phenology: Flowering mostly fall–winter.
Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed areas
Elevation: 0–20 m

Distribution

V6 468-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Fla., Africa, also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Asia (Indonesia)

Discussion

Hibiscus acetosella is cultivated as an ornamental and as a salad plant and occasionally escapes. It apparently originated in Africa, perhaps as an amphidiploidized hybrid between H. asper Hooker f. and H. surattensis Linnaeus (M. Y. Menzel 1986) and may no longer exist there or anywhere else truly in the wild (F. D. Wilson 1994).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"/3" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."fine" is not a number. "fine" is not a number.

... more about "Hibiscus acetosella"
short-acuminate;acute;acuminate;2-fid;acute;acuminate +
Orland J. Blanchard Jr. +
Welwitsch ex Hiern +
broadly cuneate +  and truncate +
asymmetric +  and symmetric +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
3-5-lobed +  and ovate +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br />) +
not spathaceous +
persistent +
funnelform-campanulate +  and divided +
accrescent +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
reddish-brown +
1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
indehiscent +  and loculicidal +
African rose-mallow +, red-leaf or cranberry hibiscus +  and false roselle +
funnelform-rotate +
Fla. +, Africa +, also in Mexico +, West Indies +, Central America +, South America +  and Asia (Indonesia) +
0–20 m +
sparse;copious +
pistillate +  and staminate +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
spheroid +  and ovoid +
Roadsides, disturbed areas +
pustular-based +
hairy +  and glabrous +
tough-fibrous +
connate +  and distinct +
simple +, stipulate +, sessile +, subsessile +  and petiolate +
distichous +  and alternate +
medial +  and marginal +
triangular +, obovate +  and elliptic +
entire +  and serrate +
hairy +  and setose +
repand;crenate-serrate;crenate +
wedge--shaped +
slit-like +
5-carpellate +
8 +  and 60 +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
maroon;dull pink;dull red +
adnate +  and distinct +
3cm;5.5cm +
obovate +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (?) +  and 4.5 cm45 mm <br />0.045 m <br /> (?) +
Flowering mostly fall–winter. +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
Cat. Afr. Pl. +
prominent +
2 +  and 3 +
pectinate +
olivaceous brown +
hairy +  and glabrous +
not +  and papillose +
reniform-ovoid +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (?) +  and 0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (?) +
persistent +
Introduced +
sessile +  and subsessile +
exserted +  and included +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
wedge--shaped +  and discoid +
1-2 times number of carpels +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
Mallow +
Hibiscus acetosella +
Hibiscus +
species +
darker-pink +
200 cm2,000 mm <br />2 m <br /> (400 cm4,000 mm <br />4 m <br />) +
perennial +  and annual +
hairy +  and glabrous +
monoecious +, dioecious +  and hermaphroditic +
[27 +, 26 +, [20 +, 19 +, 18 +, 15 +  and 17 +