Fu Rong Ye

Hibiscus mutabilis, the Confederate rose or cotton-rose hibiscus, is a large deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub or small tree of the family Malvaceae native to southern China and Taiwan and widely cultivated as an ornamental in warm temperate to subtropical regions. It typically reaches 2-4 m in height with stout, stellate-pubescent branches and alternate, long-petiolate, broadly ovate to orbicular leaves 10-20 cm across, palmately 5-7 lobed with crenate-dentate margins and softly stellate-hairy on both surfaces. The conspicuous solitary axillary flowers, 8-12 cm in diameter, open white or pale pink in the morning and gradually deepen to crimson by evening, with five obovate petals and the staminal column characteristic of Hibiscus. The fruit is a hairy, globose, five-valved capsule containing several reniform seeds.