Hibiscus L.
Contenido
Descripción
Subshrubs, shrubs, or trees (rarely herbs), glabrescent, pubescent, or hispid. Leaves petiolate, the blades elliptic, lanceolate, ovate, or cordate, sometimes lobed or parted, dentate or less commonly subentire; abaxial foliar nectaries present or absent. Flowers usually solitary (sometimes fasciculate) in the leaf axils, sometimes aggregated apically; pedicels long or short; involucel present, manifest (rarely suppressed); involucellar bracts 8-10 (-20), distinct or basally connate; calyx symmetrical, 5-lobed; petals yellow (sometimes with a purple spot at base), lavender, red, or other colors, sometimes large and showy; the staminal column apically 5-dentate, the anthers numerous; styles 5, distally free, with capitate stigmas. Capsules ovoid or oblong, 5-loculate, glabrous or pubescent, dehiscent; seeds several in each locule, glabrescent or hirsute. Base chromosome numbers: x = 10, 11, 18, 19, 20, 40, etc.A
Discusión taxonómica
Hibiscus is a genus of about 200 species from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere; 37 species occur in Mexico, including the introduced ornamentals H. rosa-sinensis, H. mutabilis, and H. syriacus. A single specimen (Yáñez 433) of the introduced ornamental H. calyphyllus Cavanilles has been seen, collected from a garden in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. Kenaf (H. cannabinus Linnaeus) has been grown in Mexico as a fiber crop (F. D. Wilson, pers. comm.).A