垂花悬铃花 chui hua xuan ling hua

Malvaviscus arboreus Cavanilles subsp. penduliflorus (Candolle) Hadač; M. arboreus var. penduliflorus (Candolle) Schery.

Shrubs, to 2 m tall. Branchlets villous (hairs recurved) to glabrate. Stipule filiform, ca. 4 mm, caducous; petiole 1-2 cm, villous; leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 6-12 × 2.5-6 cm, both surfaces nearly glabrous or stellate pilose, basal veins 3, base broadly cuneate to nearly rounded, margin crenate-serrate. Flowers solitary, axillary, pendulous, tubular, slightly expanded apically only, ca. 5 cm. Pedicel ca. 15 mm, villous. Epicalyx lobes ca. 8, spatulate, 1-1.5 cm, margins ciliate. Calyx slightly longer than epicalyx, hirsute. Petals red. Staminal column ca. 7 cm, exserted. Fruit unknown.

Cultivated. S Guangdong (Guangzhou), Taiwan, S Yunnan [cultivated in Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand; Africa (Egypt, Tanzania), Americas, Pacific islands; origin unknown but probably Mexico].

This very widely cultivated species is not known to occur in the wild. It rarely sets fruit.