HIBISCUS. 205 



dians the Gem of the Sun. With them it grows to a mo- 

 derately-sized tree ; here it is but a shrub. Its native 

 country has not been correctly ascertained, but it is very 

 common both in China and Cochin-China for garden- 

 hedges, as well as in their gardens, and in those of the 

 East Indies. Latrobe speaks of it as making a conspicuous 

 figure in the hedges at the Cape, and growing to the height 

 of sixteen or twenty feet*. The Indians make these beau- 

 tiful flowers into festoons and garlands on all occasions of 

 festivity, and even in their sepulchral rites. They are also 

 put to a very different and humble use : that of blacking 

 shoes, whence it has been named the Shoe-flower. " It is 

 called in Batavia Kamlang Sapato, the Shoe-flower," says 

 Thunberg, " and in fact, the bloom of it yields a very black 

 pigment. On this account it is said to be used for blacking 

 the scabbards of their hangers, as also for blacking shoes (." 

 The women blacken their hair and eye-brows with these 

 roses, which blow nearly all the year round. There is a 

 variety with white flowers. 



The Hibiscus MutabiUs, or Changeable Rose, has leaves 

 as large as those of the vine. The flower 'first opens white, 

 from which it changes to rose-colour, and finally to purple. 

 In the West Indies, all these changes take place in the 

 same day ; but here they occupy the space of a week. This 

 plant is a native of the East Indies ; from whence the 

 French, who call it la fleur d'une heure, carried it to their 

 settlements in the West Indies. It blows in November. 



A third species of Hibiscus is the Venice Mallow, or Hi- 

 biscus Trionum, one of the very few species belonging to 

 this beautiful genus which may be raised and preserved 

 without the aid of a stove. It is a native of Italy and 



* Latrobe's South Africa, p. 49. 



t Thunberg's Travels, Vol. II. p. 291 



