Hibiscus cannabinus

Hibiscus cannabinus, commonly the Indian hemp-leaved hibiscus or in Afrikaans the wilde stokroos (wild stick rose), is an annual shrubby herb that grows few, nearly erect branches to heights from 2 m to 3 m.

The dull green leaves are deeply three- to seven-lobed, their margins toothed and the lobe-tips pointed. Leaf diameter is about 15 cm. The origin of the specific epithet, cannabinus, lies in the leaf-shape that resembles the shape of Cannabis leaves. The leaf stalks are long, about 22 cm.

Short, sharp prickles occur on the slender stems, the leaves and the floral epicalyces. The epicalyx is an additional whorl of bracts around the flower base, lower than the calyx, present on some flowers like the mallows. In this species the epicalyx consists of seven or eight prickly, narrow bracts.

The flowers grow solitary, nearly stalkless at the spaced nodes up the stems. The pale yellow to whitish corollas are purplish or dark red inside the cup base, the petals angled outwards. The corolla is about 10 cm in diameter. Flowering happens from late spring to mid-autumn. Ants visit the flowers. The seeds are mealy.

The species distribution is in the far northeast of South Africa from the KwaZulu-Natal coast to the provinces north of the Vaal River. The species also occurs widespread in tropical Africa and as far as India where it is grown for its fibre.

The local habitat is disturbed areas and roadsides, the plant a pioneer and sometimes a problem weed; its country of origin unknown. Needless to say, H. cannabinus is not considered to be threatened early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).