Plant Name

Scientific Name: Hibiscus schizopetalus

Synonym: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis var. schizopetalus

Common Names: Coral Hibiscus, Fringed Rosemallow, Japanese Lantern, Chinese Lantern, Pagoda Flower, Skeleton Hibiscus, Fringed Hibiscus

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Growth Habit: Shrub, Subshrub, Herb/Forb

Hawaii Native Status: Cultivated. This ornamental garden plant is native to Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

Flower Color: Red with pink streaks, Coral pink

Flowering Season: Year-round but sporadic

Height: Up to 13 feet (4 m) tall, but usually less

Description: The flowers are dangling and have 5 fringed, deeply pinnately-lobed, recurved petals and a pink, pendent, curved, up to 4 inch (10 cm) long central staminal column with a 5-branched style and anthers near the tip of the column. The flowers are followed by oblong, cylindrical seed capsules. The leaves have a short petiole and are green, hairless, alternate, sharply toothed, unlobed, and elliptic to oblong in shape. The plants are narrow and have slender, arching, woody stems.

Here in Hawaii, Coral Hibiscus grows in moist, sunny gardens.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Dilleniidae
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae – Mallow family
Genus: Hibiscus L. – rosemallow
Species: Hibiscus schizopetalus (Dyer) Hook. f. – fringed rosemallow