I was quite taken with the fruits of this plant and how much they look like poppies. I think it's a shrub, though, fuzzy all over. I can't figure out the leaf arrangement. The flower diameter was maybe 4cm; fruits 2cm. [Edited 2012may20: I see that I neglected to mention that this plant was photographed in Honolulu in November, 2011, and it's seemingly a cultivated plant].
Looks like Abutilon sp. Probably Abutilon theophrasti. Common name velvet leaf. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Ab...Q&biw=1265&bih=593&sei=qvDdTovHCYXssgai3PyWCQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abutilon_theophrasti http://biology.missouristate.edu/he...lands/Flowers/Abutilon theophrasti - leaf.JPG
Thanks Silver Surfer and Ron. I didn't notice any of the apple-blossom-like openings between the petals at the base as in all the A. theophrasti google photos. A wikipedia page on A. grandiflorum, also see Plants of Hawaii, says "A. grandifolium can be distinguished from A. theophrasti by long, simple hairs on the stem rather than stellate hairs". So A. theophrasti should have stellate hairs. I looked up "stellate hairs" or trichomes, but I don't get it. Is that what's showing here? Or is that something you need more magnification to see? Or I wonder if it might be Abutilon palmeri (not listed on Plants of Hawaii). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abutilon_palmeri The wikipedia article mentions "leaves forming as alternates at meristems", something I know nothing about and that link doesn't help me much. I guess that's why I couldn't figure out the branching though. There are lots of other Abutilon to investigate too. I considered the Hawaiian Ma'o, but that should have distinctively lobed leaves, so that's out.
A. theophrasti is also called Velvetleaf so the the pubescence or hairs should be relatively short and give if not the feel the appearance of velvet as the stems in the above link. A. grandifolium seems to be a better match from your pictures, but as you say there might be others to choose from. My biology is self taught and so I might be in error, but it is my understanding the the meristem is the part of the stem that is growing, the very end of a stem in most cases and where new cells are being added on. In the case of Abutilon then this would be where the latest flowers(buds) and leaves were forming.
The velvetleaf I've seen here also looked more like a sunflower plant, with bigger leaves and little branching, sideways growth. And so on. So, yes, the one asked about here probably is another species. I just went with the original identification, without even enlarging the pictures.
My first thought also on seeing Wendy's picture was A. grandifolium, which we have here in Sydney as an accasional weed of waste ground in near-coastal suburbs, making a shrub up about 2 m high and wide. See my Flickr shot here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_rodd/3822484169/
Thanks, everyone. There are a few photos posted around this one at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rix_photostream/5362372221/ with comments: All the A. grandifolium on the Plants of Hawaii page are yellow too. I didn't see any the orange colour of Tony's photo, but obviously it occurs in both colours. My Ethnobotanical Guide to Native Hawaiian Plants from the Amy Greenwell Garden on the big island of Hawaii (Lincoln, Noa Kekuewa, Bishop Museum Press, 2009) shows Ma'o as Gossypium tomentosum, also in the Mallow family, but a type of cotton. But the link from Plants of Hawaii to the Smithsonian gives Ma'o as a name for this Abutilon. A different Smithsonian link gives synonyms: Abutilon kauaiense, Abutilon molle, Abutilon mollissimum var. sandwicense, Sida grandifolia (but with comments about how the Abutilon names need to be verified).
