Hibiscus syriacus L.

Rose Of Sharon

Hibiscus_syriacus_plant.jpg
STATS

Introduced
CC = *
CW = 5
MOC = 19

© SRTurner

Family - Malvaceae

Habit - Shrub or small tree.

Stems - Stems to several m, ascending, branched, sparsely to moderately hairy when young, becoming glabrous with age. Twigs usually light brown.

Leaves - Alternate, to 10 cm, ovate, mostly 3-lobed, the lobes sometimes lobed again, margins coarsely toothed or scalloped, usually glabrous. Stipules persistent.

Hibiscus_syriacus_leaves.jpg Stem and leaves.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_leaf1.jpg Leaf adaxial.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_leaf2.jpg Leaf abaxial.

© SRTurner

Calyces - Subtended by 8-10 bractlets, these 8-18 mm long, linear, glabrous or finely pubescent with stellate hairs. Calyces 10-15 mm long at flowering, cup-shaped with sepals fused below the midpoint, the lobes triangular, finely pubescent with stellate hairs.

Hibiscus_syriacus_calyx.jpg Calyx.

© SRTurner

Flowers - Petals showy, to 5 cm, purple, pink, or white, usually with dark reddish bases. Stamens numerous, the staminal column circular in cross-section, with a low crown of teeth at the tip. Pistils with 5 locules, the carpels closely fused. Styles fused most of their length, the tube usually curved or bent obliquely upward at the tip, each branch with a globose or disc-shaped terminal stigma.

Hibiscus_syriacus_flower.jpg Flower.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_column.jpg Stylar column.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_flower2.jpg White variant.

Pink and white flowers can often be found on the same plant.

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Fruits - Capsules, dehiscing longitudinally from the tip, to 2.5 cm, ovoid, beaked, hairy, yellow. Seeds 5-8 per locule, 4.0-4.5 mm long, broadly kidney-shaped or nearly circular, the surface minutely roughened or with a faint pattern of reticulate ridges, dark brown, glabrous, the margin densely pubescent with a line of orangish tan hairs

Hibiscus_syriacus_fruits1.jpg Fruits.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_seeds1.jpg Capsule with seeds.

© SRTurner

Hibiscus_syriacus_seeds2.jpg Seeds.

© SRTurner

Flowering - July - September.

Habitat - Streambanks, forests, roadsides, railroads, gardens.

Origin - Native to Asia.

Lookalikes - None.

Other info. - This plant is often cultivated in landscapes and garden borders. It is hardy and produces numerous flowers over a long season, attracting insects and hummingbirds. Though an exotic species, it is reasonably well behaved, rarely escaping cultivation, though it can persist at old homesites for many years. The flower color is quite variable. Cultivars with doubled corollas exist.

Photographs taken at Castlewood State Park, St. Louis County, MO, 8-9-2010, and near Labadie, Franklin County, MO, 7-31-2016, 9-6-2020, and 7-10-2022 (SRTurner).