Hibiscus vitifolius

Hibiscus vitifolius flowers have delicately thin, yellow and maroon petals. Maroon down in the centre, while the larger, upper corolla part is pale yellow. The corolla shades possibly vary across the plant’s wide distribution on four continents. Petal veins adding pleats along the corolla surface augment the flower allure.

The star-tipped (branched) hairs on the (grape) vine-like leaves are said to cause some skin irritation. This plant is found in the east and north of South Africa, as well as in tropical Africa, parts of Asia, Australia and tropical America.

The fruit following this flower is a winged, bristly capsule.

This plant resembles H. dongolensis that has only 5 lobes on its epicalyx, (the lower “extra” calyx below the real one), while H. vitifolius has ten lobes there.

There have been investigations into the potential of H. vitifolius for commercial use in conjunction with jute as a fibre plant, mainly in India.

More photos and information on this species are presented elsewhere on this Site; just use the Search Box on this page (Pooley, 1998; Manning, 2009; Blundell, 1992; Maiti, 1969 in Economic Botany 23(2) pp 141-147; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).