HIBISCUS SPLENDENS— SPLENDID HIBISCUS. 
Class XVI. MONADELPH I A. Order XII. POLYANDRIA. 
Natural Order, MALVACEAE.— THE MALLOW TRIBE. 
Character op the Genus, Hibiscus. Involucellum many-leaved, leaves simple, or forked. Calyx 
five-parted, persistent, valvate in aestivation. Petals of the corolla five, situate on the receptacle, unequally 
obovate, being joined by ungues to the base of the stamineous tube, convolvate in aestivation. Stamineous 
tube column-like, naked beneath the apex, truncate, or five-toothed, putting forth filaments more or less 
abundant. Anthers reniform, two-valved. Ovarium sessile, simple, five-celled. Ovules many or few in 
the cells, inserted on the central angle. Style terminal, the apex projecting with five divisions. Stigmas 
in very little heads, rarely cohering. Capsule five-celled, and five-valved, valves bearing septa, containing 
the seeds on the middle of their margin, no central columella. Seeds many, or sometimes from abortion 
few, rising upwards, kidney-shaped, testa crustaceous, naked or in scales, or sometimes woolly. Embryo 
curved in the direction of the seed, within a very small mucilaginous albumen ; cotyledons leafy, plicately 
folded, radicle inferior. 
Description of the species, Hibiscus Splendens. Stem round, from four to twenty-two feet 
high, clothed with stellate pubescence, amongst which are scattered tubular prickles, arising from callous 
glandular bases, red on the young shoots, green on the old. Branches axillary, round, ascending. Leaves 
six inches long, from four to six inches broad, palmately divided into three or five lobes, underneath strongly 
reticulated, thickly covered on each side with a harsh stellate pubescence, lobes lanceolate, irregularly den- 
tate, ribs prominent, more or less aculeate. Petioles in the upper leaves from two to three inches long, 
roundish, and aculeate, similar to the ribs. Stipules about an inch long, green, subulate, linear, free, exte- 
riorly pubescent. Peduncle solitary, longer than the petiole, single-flowered, and bent a little from the 
calyx. Involucre about the length of the stipules, segments linear, subulate, sometimes branched. Calyx 
yellowish, divided into five segments, somewhat longer than the involucre, exteriorly pubescent, segments 
tapering, three-nerved, the centre forming a strong keel. Corolla unexpanded about three inches in length, 
when fully expanded from five to six inches in diameter. Petals five, obovate, of a most delicate rose 
colour, nerves flexuose, prominent on the outside, and pubescent. Stamens numerous, united, filaments 
pale towards the base, in the upper part rose-coloured. Anthers a dark crimson, arranged in the form of 
a cone. Pollen large, spherical, hispid. Style about an inch long, projecting about a quarter of an inch 
beyond the conical combined anthers. Germen five-celled, covered with silky pubescence. Ovules 
numerous, each cell containing two. Seeds greenish, angular, wrinkled, and warty. 
Popular and Geographical Notice. The order Malvaceae is, for the most part, tropical, and 
in regions of high temperature the species revel in all their beauty. The present plant is one of the most 
beautiful of the genus. It is a native of New Holland, where, says its discoverer, Mr. Frazer, it is so 
beautiful that it is considered the King of all known Australian plants, that its flowers are nine inches 
across, and so profuse a flowerer is it, that they literally cover the entire plant. 
Introduction; Where grown; Culture. This species was raised from seeds sent to this 
country by Mr. Frazer, in the year 1828, from which flowering plants were raised in 1830. It may be 
propagated either by seeds, or by cuttings. Its soil should be sand, loam, and peat. 
Derivation of the Name. Hibiscus, from </3<c7cor, the Greek name of a plant nearly allied to this 
genus. Splendens, in allusion to its elegant inflorescence. 
“This is the month/’ says a popular writer, “ of the migration of birds, of the finished harvest, of nut- 
gathering, of cyder and perry-making, and, towards the conclusion, of the change of colour in trees. The 
swallows and manny other soft-billed birds that feed on insects, disappear for the warmer climates, leaving 
only a few stragglers behind, probably from weakness or sickness, who hide themselves in caverns and 
other sheltered places, and occasionally appear upon warm days. The remainder of harvest is got in ; and 
no sooner is this done, than the husbandman ploughs up his land again, and prepares it for the winter 
* We are again indebted for figure and description to Mr. Maund’s charming work “ the Botanist.” 
