• Family : MALVACEAE
  (Mallow Or Hibiscus Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : GURHAL FAMILY (गुड़हल फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : MALVACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Hibiscus unidens Lindl.; Hibiscus heptaphyllus Dalz. & Gibs.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Hibiscus radiatus Cav.
• Common name : Monarch Rose Mallow, Ruby Hibiscus
• Habit : Shrub
• Habitat : Grown as ornamental plant
• Comments / notes : Found frequently in waste places
• Key identification features : A large shrub (1-2 m. high) with prickly branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, with narrow toothed lobes. Leaf stalk is long and prickly. Flowers axillary; upper leaves are large, 8-10 cm. across, showy, yellow to burgundy-coloured in different varieties. Leafy appendages in a circlet are present at the base of the flower (involucral bracts). Calyx lobes are prickly on the margins. Stamens are many, forming a tube. Fruit is a beaked, hairy capsule.
• Flower, Fruit : August-April
• Collection Nos : KFP 3911, CJS 18760, CJS 19264
• Native : Eastern India
• World Distribution : India, Bangladesh, Myanmar
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Bhaskar & Kushalappa, 2013- Flora of Tumkur District; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Hibiscus radiatus. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)