294 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



Hialoa (Hawaii). See Waltheria americana. 



Hibiscus esculentus. Same as Abelmoschus esculentus. 



Hibiscus mutabilis. CHANGEABLE ROSE-MALLOW. 



Family Malvaceae. 



LOCAL NAMES. Mapola (Guam); Amistad (Mexico); Maravilla (Porto Rico). 

 A shrub or small tree which has flowers that change in color, almost white in the 

 morning and red at night. Leaves downy, cordate, 5-angled, 10 cm. in diameter, 

 petiole 7.5 cm.; peduncles axillary, nearly as long as the leaf, jointed near the top; 

 bracts shorter than the calyx; flowers 7.5 to 10 cm. in diameter; sepals ovate-lance- 

 olate, connate below the middle; capsule depressed-globose, hairy; seeds reniform, 

 hispid. 



Planted in many gardens in Guam. The bark yields a strong fiber, but this has 

 never been used for cordage. 



REFERENCES: 



Hibiscus mutabilis L. Sp. PI. 2: 694. 1753. 

 Hibiscus populneus. Same as Thespesia populnea. 

 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. SCARLET ROSE-MALLOW. 



LOCAL NAMES. Gumamela (Guam); Tapuranga (Philippines); Kaute (Raro- 



tonga); Aute (Samoa); Shoe-flower (India); Fu-sang (China). 

 An ornamental shrub planted by the natives near their houses. In Guam only 

 the crimson-flowered varieties, single and double, are found. Leaves ovate, acumi- 

 nate, entire at the base, coarsely toothed at the apex, nearly glabrous; stipules 

 sword-shaped; peduncles axillary, as long as or longer than the adjoining leaf; 

 bracteoles 6 or 7, linear, half the length of the bell-shaped calyx; sepals lanceolate, 

 connate below the middle; staminal tube exceeding the corolla; capsule rounded; 

 many-seeded. Seldom seeds in cultivation. 



In India the flowers are used to black shoes, and paper colored with the petals is 

 used in the place of litmus for testing. The plant is easily propagated by cuttings. 

 These should be removed with a piece of the old wood adhering, placed in water 

 until roots begin to make their appearance, and then planted. In this way it is pos- 

 sible to have a fine hedge under way in a very short time, which begins to bloom 

 immediately if flowering twigs have been selected for cuttings. 



REFERENCES: 



Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. Sp. PI. 2: 694. 1753. 

 Hibiscus tiliaceus. Same as Pariti tiliaceum. 

 Hierba buena (Spanish). See Mentha arvensis. 

 Hierba de polio (Spanish). See Portulaca quadrifida. 

 Hierba de Santa Rosa (Mexico). See Antigonon leptopus. 

 Higo (Spanish). See Ficus carica. 

 Hikamas (Guam). See Cacara erosa. 

 Hikara (Guam). See Crescentia alata. 

 Hinaxamai (Philippines). See under Pipturus argenteus. 

 Hinegsa (Guam). See under Oryza saliva. 

 Hoda or Hodda (Guam). See Ficus spp. 

 Hog-weed. See Boerhaavia diffusa. 

 Hoja de bouja (Cuba). See Bryophyllum pinnatum. 

 Hombronia edulis. Same as Pandanus dubius. 

 Horse bean. See Canavali ensiforme. 

 Horse-radish tree. See Moringa moringa. 

 Huamachil (Mexico). See Pithecolobium dulce. 



