• Scientific Name: Malvaviscus arboreus Cav.
• Ref: Diss. 3: t.48, f.1 1787
• Synonyms: Hibiscus malvaviscus L.; Achania malvaviscus (L.) Sw.
• English Common Name: Turkcap, Turk’s turban, wax mallow, ladies teardrop, Scotchman’s purse
• Chinese Common Name: 小悬铃花 xiǎo xuánlíng∙huā, 冲天槿 chōngtiān∙jǐn, 小红袍 xiǎo∙hóngpáo
• Japanese Common Name: ヒメフヨウ [姫芙蓉] himefuyō, ヒメブッソウゲ [姫仏桑花] himebussōge
• Family: Malvaceae
• Genus: Malvaviscus
• Distribution: Cultivated. Fujian (Xiamen), S Guangdong (Guangzhou), S Yunnan [native to Central and North America (SE United States); now widely planted in tropical and warm temperate regions, sometimes naturalized].
• Photo: 06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden, Guangdong

Shrubs ca. 1 m tall. Branchlets sparsely villous to glabrate, rarely glabrous. Stipule filiform, ca. 4 mm, usually caducous; petiole 2-5 cm, puberulent; leaf blade broadly cordate to ovate-cordate, usually 3-lobed, sometimes entire, 6-12 × 2.5-10 cm, nearly glabrous or stellate pilose on both surfaces, basal veins 3 or 5, base broadly cuneate to nearly rounded or cordate, margin crenate, sometimes irregularly so, apex acuminate. Flowers solitary, axillary, pendulous, tube-shaped, slightly expanding only at top, 2.3-5 cm. Pedicel 3-15 mm, villous or puberulent. Epicalyx lobes spatulate, 8-15 mm, connate at base, hairy. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1 cm in diam., lobes 5, slightly longer or shorter than bracteoles, hirsute. Petals 5, scarlet-red, 2.5-5 cm. Staminal column 5-7 cm, exceeding corolla tube. Style branches 10. Ripe fruit bright red, usually 3- or 4-seeded. (Flora of China)

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden