Friday, November 30, 2012

Hibiscus rosa sinensis - The Flower of Malaysia

The so called single-petaled Hibiscus has a single tier of five petals. This red  variety is the national flower of Malaysia. It is robust, carries many blooms and rather disease-free so much so that at one time, it was commonly used as living hedges. Recently there seems to be a revival of  this practice.
 
The hibiscus flower appears to be quite cheeky with its "tongue" sticking out.



 
Small and pointy buds.

 

The petals are seen peeking out, waiting to burst at the seams of the calyx.


The next day it emerged and protruded forwards.



At this stage the bud looks like a stoma; Hello!


When the hibiscus is in full bloom, the petals flare out and curve slightly backwards. The edge of the petals are frilly.  

The staminal tube comprising anthers and five-branched stigmata hangs freely down and sways with the breeze.

With their striking vermilion hue, these Hibiscus flowers overshadow the Bougainvilleas which framed them from above and below. 


This variety has green-white variegated leaves, so is named 'Snowflakes'. 




An ant trekked up one of the five branches of the style and

 scrambled onto the tuft-covered stigma.

"It is easier to go down a hill than up,
but the view is from the top"
- Arnold Bennett

 

And the descent down.



The numerous anthers seem to be swollen with their contents. The stigmata are covered with fine filaments.

Later in the day the anthers burst to release fine pollens.

What is left after the petals dropped off the next day.


Given sufficient fertilizer, they bloom non-stop.



Hibiscus hedge just outside the arrival level at Kuala Lumpur international Airport (KLIA ).

 

This bush was transported from another garden in my hometown, then re-potted here in this urban setting where it seems to be thriving. In order to transplant this Hibiscus plant,  I had all the flowers and most of the leaves pruned off.



It was such a waste to dump it so they ended up in a vase.


A simple arrangement where leaves and flower are plonked into a glass globe of water.


A dish of Black Pepper Chicken with Bell Peppers.

26 comments:

  1. To przepiękne kwiaty w cudownym kolorze. Zdjęcia, które im zrobiłaś są śliczne. Pozdrawiam.
    This beautiful flowers in a wonderful color. Pictures that they've done is beautiful. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Giga, thanks for the compliments. There are many other colours and also in lovely combinations of colours. This red variety with a single tier of five petals is the national flower of Malaysia.

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  2. Stunning huge, beautiful flowers. The first time I saw them in Turkey, even one I put the flower in her hair and posed for pictures, greet

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    Replies
    1. Posters of vacation in Hawaii, always depict girls wearing grass skirts with a hibiscus flower behind the ear.

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  3. Brilliant shots. This shrub is a very common sight here. It's used so much because it's drought tolerant, heat tolerant, sun tolerant and looks fantastic all year round covered in its beautiful red flowers. I'm lucky enough to have quite a few in my garden, including the 'Snowflake' and the 'Roseflake'. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bernie, thanks for the compliments. I'm glad that you like them as much as I do. My roseflake has turned into snowflake :(
      I'm still waiting for the red colouration to appear one day.

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  4. I love hibiscus. They remind me of Mediterranean countries and my nice vacations there.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sadun, somehow, Hibiscus reminds us of vacations and nice memories. Thanks for dropping by.

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  5. Lovely plant with beautiful blooms! Here they make a tea with it and it's really delicious. When one of the short lived blooms goes, another is waiting to take over:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the variety of Hibiscus from which tea is made from is the roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). I don't think tea is made from this variety, at least, not that I know of.

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  6. Fantastic red hibiscus flowers and brilliantly shot. I find red flowers very difficult to photograph, the red never seems to be quite as good as it should be - yours are perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for compliments. Similiarly, I find red flowers difficult to shoot too, particularly in strong sunlight when the colours are fully saturated. I have to adjust the white balance and exposure to get more details. From my experience, I find that I get best results when the sky is overcast.

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  7. Hi Stiletto, lovely shots of your hibiscus, we call here 'gumamela'. I noticed we have some similarities in shooting and composition, as well as in posting. It is just that you normally have more photos than I, which i would love to do also but i refrain from doing because they are slow to download for readers. When we were kids our hedges were also gumamela as well as the Malvaviscus or turks cap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gumamela is a nice name. Our local name for it is 'Bunga Raya' which means grand flower. I have a big bush of Turk's cap but in our country it has never been used as a hedge.

      I have reduced the size of all my photos to enable easy downloading. In future, I might even want to reduce further but the trade-off is at the expense of the quality.

      Delete
  8. My oh my what a beautiful flower, if it grew well here I would want it as a shrub border. Excellent photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do agree that it would make a lovely hedge. However it wouldn't work for me as I just can't bear to prune off the buds while in the process of tidying up the hedge. I have mine planted as small trees. Thanks for the compliments.

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  9. Hi Stiletto:) I never knew that the Hibiscus flower is the national flower of Malaysia.Blogs are wonderful for gleaning this type of information.Its a common shrub here,but a very beautiful one.Your photos show it off to perfection.

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad to be the source of this information. There are some people who don't even know where Malaysia is let alone knowing about the national flower, so I'm glad to be playing a small role here. Thanks for the kind words.

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  10. To see the process of petals’ unfurling is interesting. How could you imagine that gorgeous and radiant floral shape from the tightly shut buds if you don’t know what a hibiscus is like. I think red color is difficult to shoot and you did it so nice, too. This red variety fits to the image of the land of everlasting summer. As weather forecasts the highest temperature will be around 10 degrees Celsius and the lowest will be below zero here in Nara, I’m longing for the warmth of Malaysia

    Yoko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The element of a pleasant surprise in any situation is serendipitous. You are most welcome to visit Malaysia. Just let me know if you decide to come. There are many Japanese living here in the capital city and up north on Penang island.

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  11. Gorgeous photos, and you've captured this hot colour perfectly. Hibiscus are very popular here during the summer, but so far the red one is grown as an annual and must come inside once the temperatures start to drop :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your compliments on my photos though I know there is much room still for improvement. I remembered being surprised at seeing Hibiscus when I was there early summer this year. I've always thought of Hibiscus as a tropical plant. really the world has grown rather borderless.

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  12. Hibiscus rosa sinensis was one of the first tropical plants that I grew, inspired by holidays in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, I was very new to gardening at the time, and the plant didn't survive long. I have wanted to grow it again, but have only come across annual varieties since.
    Your post has inspired me to look out for it again next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keep trying Crystal, don't ever give up on this plant because it is worth it :)

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  13. Wonderful array of photos capturing so many of the beautiful details.

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