In The Garden: Is this a Hibiscus?!

Hi all :)

I am new to this forum, and i would really appreciate your help.

I few months ago i bought a plant (it was marked as Hibiscus), there were no opened flowers just buds. Lately it started blooming and last Saturday i found a beautiful red flower. To my surprise it was very different from the usual Hibiscus.

Could you be so kind as to identify the name of this plant. (See attached image)

Thanks a lot :)

Sandra Portelli
Malta

 

Yes, it's a Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar.

 

Thank you for your reply.

However the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar is a 5-petaled flowers with prominent orange-tipped red anthers. Mine is different with more petals and no anthers!

Thank you anyway

Sandra.

 

The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis species is 5-petalled. There are a lot of rosa-sinensis cultivars, and some of them are double-flowered, meaning more than five petals, usually a lot of petals. For instance, here is one:
http://catfishhk.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/spring-flowers/double-crown-hibiscus-2/, from a google search.

Maybe the reproductive parts are hidden down amongst the petals, or maybe this cultivar is sterile (some of the doubles are). I know in cherries that stamens are sacrificed to produce the extra petals. I'm not sure how that works in hibiscus, where the structure is quite different.

 

:) Thanks a lot, that looks like my hibiscus :D

your help is much appreciated :))

Sandra

 

When a plant name is suggested the first picture that comes up on the internet may not be the extent of it, in this case there are hundreds of cultivated versions of the one species. Even supermarket floral departments may have several different kinds of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis on display at the same time.

 

Hi Ron B

Yes you're right :)

Thanks a lot.

 

One other point to mention is that Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is subtropical, a lot less hardy than the 'usual' Hibiscus syriacus. That may not matter too much in Malta's climate, though.