Hibiscus aculeatus Walter. Section: Furcaria. Common name: Savanna Hibiscus, Comfort-root. Phenology: Jun-Aug; Jul-Sep. Habitat: Wet to moist pine savannas, swamp forests, coastal marsh transitions, dry sandy or loamy soils of maritime forest edges. Distribution: Se. NC south to sc. peninsular FL, west to LA and extreme e. TX.
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Synonymy ⓘ: = Fl4, FNA6, GW2, K4, NS, POWO, RAB, S, S13, WH3; = n/a — C. Basionym: Hibiscus aculeatus Walter 1788
Links to other floras: = Hibiscus aculeatus - FNA6
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
Heliophily ⓘ: 8
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© Grant Morrow Parkins | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Hibiscus aculeatus, Milkweed Bog, Easter Plantation, Brooks County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Jennifer Peterson | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Radford, Ahles and Bell | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect, shrub-like perennial arising from a woody crown, found in pine savannas and dry sandy or loamy soils of maritime forest edges.
Stems: Stems mostly simple, rough-hairy.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, petiolate, to 3 1/2 in. long, with 3-5 deeply cut lobes, coarsely toothed and rough-hairy.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers solitary on stalks from leaf axils; cream-white (turning pink with age) with a dark red center; 4 1/2 in. wide; consisting of 5 overlapping scalloped-edge petals, a 5-lobed calyx and an erect central column of red stamens surrounding a red pistil. The flower rests on a whorl of 10-15 very narrow, green bracts.
Fruits:
Comments:
Height: 3-6 ft.
plant sale text: Savanna rose-mallow has striking pale yellow flowers with dark purplish centers. Each flower is about 4½ inches across and turns pink as it ages. Its lobed leaves add a handsome texture to the garden. This perennial is found in coastal pinelands and upland bogs from Texas to North Carolina. Another of its common names, "comfortroot," comes from the mucilagineous qualities of its roots that have been used to make soothing medicine for sore throats. The genus Hibiscus supports up to 18 lepidoptera species.
bloom table text:
description: Erect, shrub-like perennial arising from a woody crown, found in pine savannas and dry sandy or loamy soils of maritime forest edges.
stems: Stems mostly simple, rough-hairy.
leaves: Leaves alternate, petiolate, to 3 1/2 in. long, with 3-5 deeply cut lobes, coarsely toothed and rough-hairy.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers solitary on stalks from leaf axils; cream-white (turning pink with age) with a dark red center; 4 1/2 in. wide; consisting of 5 overlapping scalloped-edge petals, a 5-lobed calyx and an erect central column of red stamens surrounding a red pistil. The flower rests on a whorl of 10-15 very narrow, green bracts.
fruits:
comments:
cultural notes: This great plant grows in pine savannas from Carteret county N.C. southward along the coastal plain to central Florida. Savanna rose-mallow is a perennial that grows in a clump of bristly stems about three feet in length with very coarse leaves having three to five lobes. It flowers from late June through August with beautifully cupped blossoms three to four inches in diameter. The flowers have delicate yellow or cream colored petals and a brilliant crimsom base or throat.
germination code: 3
native range: southeastern United States
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