Hibiscus mutabilis L. APNI* Description: Shrub or small tree to 4 m tall.
Stems and petioles with dense stellate and glandular hairs. Leaf lamina very broadly ovate to orbicular in outline, palmately but shallowly 3–7-lobed, 5–15 cm long; lobes triangular, shallowly serrate-crenate, acute, discolorous, stellate-pubescent above and below.
Flowers solitary or usually in apparently terminal, few-flowered corymbs; pedicels 3–15 cm long. Epicalyx lobes 8–12, linear-lanceolate, 0.5–2 cm long. Calyx 3–4 cm long; lobes broadly triangular, slightly longer than tube, stellate-hairy. Petals 5–6 cm long, white or pink, fading to deep rose.
Capsule globose, c. 2 cm long, pilose. Seeds long-pilose.
Distribution and occurrence: Lord Howe Is. A native of China, widely cultivated and occasionally becoming naturalised.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *LHI
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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