Shoe Flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
June 3, 2007 — Vasant M. SalianThe Shoe Flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) is an evergreen shrub native to East Asia, also known as China rose and Shoe flower. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics. The flowers are large, red, firm, but lack any scent. Numerous cultivars, varieties, and hybrids have been created, with flower colours ranging from white through yellow and orange to scarlet and shades of pink, with both single and double sets of petals.
The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to lanceolate, often with a toothed or lobed margin. The flowers are large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals, ranging from white to pink, red, purple or yellow, and from 4-15 cm broad. The fruit is a dry five-lobed capsule, containing several seeds in each lobe, which are released when the capsule splits open at maturity.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia, called the Bunga Raya in Malay. The flowers are used to shine shoes in parts of India, as well as for the worship of Devi. Hibiscus flowers are also used for hair care. Species of hibiscuses are the state flowers of two regions of the USA - the State of Hawaii and the territory of Puerto Rico
Taxonomy:
Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Malvales
Family : Malvaceae
Genus : Hibiscus
Species : Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Pronunciation/Meaning:
- Malvaceae (mal-VAY-see-ay) - The Malva (mallow) family.
- Hibiscus (hi-BIS-kus) - The ancient Greek and Latin name for a mallow-like plant.
- rosa-sinensis (RO-suh se-NEN-sis) - Rose of China.
Common Name:
- Shoe Flower, China Rose, Chinese Hibiscus (English)
- Gurhal (Hindi)
- Chemparati (Malayalam)
- Sembaruthi (Tamil)
- Jaswand (Marathi)
- Dosni Phool (Konkani)
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