Hibiscus vitifolius

Hibiscus vitifolius, commonly known as the vine-leaved hibiscus, the tropical rose mallow or in Afrikaans as the wildestokroos (wild stick-rose), is a straggling shrub or woody perennial reaching 1,5 m in height.

The flowers grow solitary from leaf axils or are clustered near stem-tips. The five-petalled corolla is pale yellow with a dark maroon eye, forming a shallow bowl slightly deeper in its dark centre. The corolla becomes 5 cm to 9 cm in diameter.

There are many stamens protruding sideways from the staminal column, the anthers irregularly shaped, orange globules. The dark maroon stigma at the tip of the column has five branches, matching the number of carpels in the ovary. Flowering commences around mid-spring and continues to mid-autumn.

The species distribution in South Africa is confined to the east coast from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal and inland in all the provinces north of the Vaal River, barring Gauteng. The plant occurs widespread in tropical Africa, Asia and Australia; probably introduced in tropical America.

The habitat is woodland, near watercourses and forest margins, also in grassland and areas with low rainfall. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Pooley, 1998; Manning, 2009; Blundell, 1992; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw; http://redlist.sanbi.org).