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Hibiscus pentaphyllus F.Muell.

Reference
Fragm. 2:13 (1860)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Erect shrub, (0.3-)1-2 m high. Fl. yellow, Jan or Apr to Oct. Sand & loamy soils, alluvium. Stony areas, along rivers, sandplains.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 23 September 1996
Image

Scientific Description

Shrub, with glabrous stems. Leaves 75-80 mm long, 25-45 mm wide, palmately lobed, simply (once-)lobed; margins serrate; hairy, with Simple hairs (without tubercle bases), with stellate hairs, with tubercle-based simple hairs tubercle-based simple hairswith scales absent, Sessile glands absent; stipules present and persistent to older leaves or present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves), 20-25 mm long. Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel present, 60-85 mm long; glabrous, with simple hairs, with scales absent. Epicalyx (extra segments or 'bracteoles' immediately below the calyx) present, 15-30 mm long, the lobes free, indumentum present, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) present or absentwith scales absent, Sessile glands absent. Calyx green, 15-22 mm long, the lobes fused less than half their length, Sessile glands absent, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) present, stellate hairs absent, tubercle-based simple hairs present, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla yellow, 28-35 mm long, hairs or scales present, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) absent, stellate hairs present, tubercle-based simple hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Stamens many, united and arising from a staminal tube around the style; filaments present, 2-2.2 mm long; anthers 0.8-1 mm long, indumentum absent (anthers glabrous). Staminodes absent, appendages absent. Ovary hairs or scales present, simple hairs present, stellate hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent; style 1, 14 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) absent, stellate hairs absent, Sessile glands absent, tubercle-based simple hairs present, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent; apex rounded; prickles absent (except perhaps a terminal awn); terminal awns or spines absent; calyx persistent to mature fruit; seeds per loculus 2-4. Flowering time January, April, May, June, July, August, September or October. Distribution Botanical Province Northern or Eremaean, IBRA Bioregion Great Sandy Desert, North Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte, Central Kimberley, Dampierland and Ord-Victorian-Plain.

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

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Great Sandy Desert, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Victoria Bonaparte.
IBRA Subregions
Fitzroy Trough, Hart, Keep, McLarty, Mitchell, Pentecost, Pindanland, Purnululu, South Kimberley Interzone.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Halls Creek, Wyndham-East Kimberley.