Abutilon darwinii
Common names
Chinese lantern
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Orange, Yellow
Detailed description
Perennial shrub to c. 3m high. sometimes suckering to form thickets. Stems sparsely hairy with short stellate hairs and scattered short simple hairs, becoming more or less glabrous. Leaves densely clothed in fine stellate hairs below, more or less glabrous to moderately hairy with simple and stellate hairs above, lighter green below, broadly ovate to suborbcular, cordate at base, usually 3-(5) lobed, to 1/4 -1/2 radius, crenate or serrate 6-15-(18)cm long; petioles 2-20 cm long; stipules narrow-oblong to lanceolate, 6-12 mm long, deciduous. Flowers axillary, usually solitary or sometimes 2-3 in fascicles; fruiting pedicels up to 20 cm long; calyx shallowly campanulate; calyx teeth much greater than tube, triangular, acuminate, densely clothed in stellate hairs, more or less erect at fruiting, petals yellow to orange or scarlet, often with darker veins, 30-60 mm long. Cells c. 10 per fruit, covered in stellate hairs, and with longer stellate hairs along the ridged back; dorsal apical angle awnless. Seeds brown, hairy, partivulary on the back c. 3mm diameter (Webb et al 1988)
Similar taxa
This species can de distinguished from other Abutillon by the lobed leaves.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Malvaceae
Ecology
Flowering
January, February, March, April
Year naturalised
1981
Origin
Cultivated hybrid
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Approximately 10 seeds per fruit (Webb et al 1988)
Other information
Etymology
abutilon: From the Arabic word for a mallow-like plant.
darwinii: After Charles Robert Darwin (1809 – 1882) an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Christchurch, NZ. 1365 p.