Hibiscus syriacus is a widely cultivated ornamental shrub in the genus
HibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
. Common names include
Rose of SharonRose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world. The name's colloquial application has been used as an example of the lack of precision of common names, which potentially causes confusion...
(especially in North America),
Shrub Althea, and
Rose of Althea.
It is a flowering
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
in the
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
family
MalvaceaeMalvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species.[ Judd & al.] Well known members of this family include okra and cacao...
native to much of
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. It is vase-shaped, reaching 2-4 m in height. It is widely planted in areas with hot summers for its very attractive white, pink, red,
lavenderThe lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region south to tropical Africa and to the southeast regions of India. The genus includes annuals, herbaceous plants, subshrubs, and small shrubs...
, or purple edible
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s.
Hibiscus syriacus is a widely cultivated ornamental shrub in the genus
HibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
. Common names include
Rose of SharonRose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world. The name's colloquial application has been used as an example of the lack of precision of common names, which potentially causes confusion...
(especially in North America),
Shrub Althea, and
Rose of Althea.
Growth
It is a flowering
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
in the
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
family
MalvaceaeMalvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species.[ Judd & al.] Well known members of this family include okra and cacao...
native to much of
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. It is vase-shaped, reaching 2-4 m in height. It is widely planted in areas with hot summers for its very attractive white, pink, red,
lavenderThe lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region south to tropical Africa and to the southeast regions of India. The genus includes annuals, herbaceous plants, subshrubs, and small shrubs...
, or purple edible
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s. Individual flowers are short lived, lasting only a day. However, numerous flower buds are produced on the shrub's new growth, which provide prolific flowering over a long summer blooming period (July-September). Shoots make interesting indoor vase cuttings as they stay green for a long time.
Some new flowers may open from the more mature flower buds. The species has naturalized very well in many suburban areas, and might even be termed slightly
invasiveInvasive may refer to:*A military invasion*An invasive species*An invasive medical procedure*The invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer...
, so frequently does it seed around.
National flower
Hibiscus syriacus is the national flower of
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
. The flower appears in national
emblemAn emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
s, and Korea is compared poetically to the flower in the
South Korean national anthemAegukga is the national anthem of South Korea, though it is not legally recognized as such. The title literally means "The Song of Love for the Country," or "The Patriotic Song."...
. The flower's name in
KoreanKorean is the official language of North Korea and South Korea. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers. It was formerly written using Hanja, borrowed Chinese characters pronounced in the Korean...
is
mugunghwa (
HangulHangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logographic Sino-Korean hanja system...
: 무궁화;
HanjaHanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 無窮花). The flower's symbolic significance stems from the Korean word
mugung, meaning "
immortalityImmortality is the concept of living in a physical or spiritual form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time....
".
Characteristics
Hibiscus syriacus is a popular ornamental shrub with many
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s including 'Diana', 'Lady Stanley', 'Ardens', 'Lucy', and 'Blushing Bride' (photo below).
Hibiscus syriacus is fairly easily
propagatedPlant propagation is the process of artificially or naturally distributing plants.-Sexual propagation :Seeds and spores can be used for reproduction . Seeds are typically produced from sexual reproduction within a species, since because genetic recombination has occurred plants grown from seed may...
from either
seedsGermination is the process in which a seed or spore emerges from a period of dormancy. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the growth of hyphae from fungal...
,
layeringLayering is a means of plant propagation in which a portion of an aerial stem grow roots while still attached to the parent plant and then detaches as an independent plant. Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments...
, or cuttings.
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