Yellow Hibiscus

Appearance

Shrub-like perennial herb, up to 2.5 m, with a woody base and stellate hairs on the stems. Leaves almost round in outline, shallowly 3-5-lobed, hairy on both surfaces; petioles long and stellate-hairy; margins irregularly toothed. Flowers 3.5–10 cm in diam., solitary, axillary, yellow with a dark centre, turning apricot-orange with age, petals softly hairy on the outside. Epicalyx of 8-10 bracts, linear-spathulate, joined near the the base. Calyx with triangular lobes, tomentose, 3-veined, joined about halfway. Capsule, subspherical, c. 15 mm in diameter. Seeds 3 × 2 mm, crescent to kidney-shaped, densely pubescent.

Specimens of this species differ in three pairs of characters: (1) sterns tomentose or hirsute; (2) flowers larger (petals c. 5 mm. long) or smaller (petals c. 3–5 cm. long): (3) seeds fulvous-pubescent or glabrous. These features occur, however, in various combinations and it seems ill-advised to attempt an infraspecific classification. H. friesii Ulbr. (Fries 239) has a distinct facies and, if eventually found to be separable, Kantikana 5 from Lilongwe would probably belong to the same taxon.

Naming

Hibiscus panduriformis Burm. f.
The species name panduriformis means fiddle-shaped, probably referring to the shape of the leaves.

Synonyms:
Hibiscus austrinus Juswara & Craven
Hibiscus friesii Ulbr.
Hibiscus multistipulatus Garcke

Distribution

Widespread in tropical Africa, Madagascar, tropical Asia and Australia.
The subspecies Hibiscus panduriformis var. australis Hochr. is found in Australia.

Habitat

Grows in dry sandy places, often in places of old cultivation and disturbed areas.