光籽木槿 guang zi mu jin

Replaced synonym: Hibiscus leiospermus K. T. Fu & C. C. Fu in K. T. Fu & C. W. Chang, Fl. Tsinling. 1(3): 454. 1981, not Hibiscus leiospermus Harvey in Harvey & Sonder, Fl. Capensis 1: 173. 1860.

Shrubs erect, 0.5-2 m tall. Branchlets stellate puberulent when young. Stipules filiform, 3-4 mm; petiole 1-2.5 cm, puberulent; leaf blade ovate-orbicular, sometimes 3-lobed, 3-6 × 2-4.5 cm, papery, abaxially stellate puberulent, adaxially stellate puberulent or nearly glabrous, basal veins 3, base broadly cuneate or slightly rounded, margin sparsely denate (teeth large), apex obtuse. Flowers solitary, axillary on upper twigs. Pedicel 2-5 mm, golden yellow stellate tomentose; involucre campanulate, 7-10 mm, connate in proximal 1/3-1/2, densely stellate puberulent, segments 6(or 7), triangular, 3-4 mm wide. Epicalyx lobes 4-6 mm. Calyx campanulate, 2-2.5 cm, segments 5, triangular, acute, densely golden yellow stellate tomentose. Corolla white to purple-red, nearly campanulate, 7-8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, obtuse, veined, stellate villous abaxially. Staminal column ca. 4 cm. Style branches 5, densely villous. Capsule oblong-ellipsoid, ca. 2.5 × 1.2 cm, densely golden yellow stellate tomentose and long hispid, 5-angular, apex beaked; mericarps 5. Seeds reniform, glabrous. Fl. Jul-Oct.

● Scrub on riverbanks or rocky mountains; 600-1300 m. Gansu, Shaanxi.

Hibiscus leviseminus is very similar to H. mutabilis; it differs in having a campanulate epicalyx with short and broad segments, a very short pedicel, 0.2-0.5 cm, not 5-8 cm, and glabrous, not villous, seeds.