芙蓉葵 fu rong kui

Herbs perennial, erect, 1-2.5 m tall; stem stellate pubescent or nearly glabrous. Stipules silklike, caducous; petiole 4-10 cm, puberulent; leaf blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, sometimes with 2 lateral lobes, 10-18 × 4-8 cm, abaxially gray-white tomentose, adaxially nearly glabrous or minutely puberulent, base cuneate or nearly rounded, margin bluntly dentate, apex caudate. Flowers solitary, axillary. Pedicel 4-8 cm, very sparsely stellate puberulent, articulate near apex. Epicalyx lobes 10-12, filiform, ca. 18 × 1.5 mm, densely stellate puberulent. Calyx 1/2 as long as epicalyx, lobes rounded, connate for more than 1/2 of length. Corolla white, pink, red, or purple, with dark red center, 10-14 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 10 cm, abaxially sparsely pilose, adaxially bearded on margin. Staminal column ca. 4 cm. Ovary glabrous; style branches 5, sparsely scabrous. Capsule conic-ovoid, 2.5-3 cm; mericarps 5. Seeds reniform, 2-3 mm in diam., apex pointed. Fl. Jul-Sep.

Wet situations, also cultivated. Beijing, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Yunnan, Zhejiang [native to North America (SE United States)].

Hibiscus moscheutos is a commonly grown garden ornamental.