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Hibiscus geranioides Benth.

Reference
Fl.Austral. 1:215 (1863)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Prostrate, straggling or upright annual or perennial, herb or shrub, 0.05-1 m high. Fl. white-pink, Nov to Dec or Jan to Aug. Sandy soils, sandstone. Along creeks, sandstone boulders.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 20 September 1996

Scientific Description

Shrub, with hairy stems. Leaves 50-80 mm long, 7-20 mm wide, not lobed or tripartitely lobed, complexly (twice-)lobed; margins sinuate; hairy, with stellate hairswith scales absent, Sessile glands absent; stipules present and persistent to older leaves or present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves), 6-10 mm long. Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel present, 20-26 mm long; indumentum present, with stellate hairs present, with scales absent. Epicalyx (extra segments or 'bracteoles' immediately below the calyx) present, 6-12 mm long, the lobes free, indumentum present, stellate hairs present, Sessile glands absent. Calyx green, 13-14 mm long, the lobes free, Sessile glands absent, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) absent, stellate hairs present, tubercle-based simple hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla white or pink, 23-25 mm long, glabrous. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Stamens many, united and arising from a staminal tube around the style; filaments present, 1.6-2 mm long; anthers 0.6-0.8 mm long, indumentum absent (anthers glabrous). Staminodes absent, appendages absent. Ovary hairs or scales present, simple hairs present, stellate hairs absent; style 1, 11-12 mm long, with five style branches or lobes, mostly glabrous, wing absent. Fruits dehiscent (capsules and follicles), length-width ratio more or less as long as wide, hairs or scales present, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) present, stellate hairs absent, Sessile glands present, tubercle-based simple hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent; apex distinctly flat-topped; prickles absent (except perhaps a terminal awn); terminal awns or spines absent; calyx persistent to mature fruit, 15 mm long, accrescent; seeds per loculus 2-4. Flowering time January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, November or December. Distribution Botanical Province Northern or Eremaean, IBRA Bioregion Great Sandy Desert, North Kimberley, Central Kimberley and Dampierland.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 11 August 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Great Sandy Desert, Northern Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte.
IBRA Subregions
Berkeley, Fitzroy Trough, McLarty, Mitchell, Pentecost, Pindanland.
IMCRA Regions
Canning, Kimberley.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Wyndham-East Kimberley.