Native rosella facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Native rosella |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Hibiscus
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| Species: |
heterophyllus
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The Hibiscus heterophyllus, also known as the native rosella or toilet paper bush, is a beautiful flowering plant. It belongs to the Malvaceae family, which includes other well-known plants like cotton and okra.
This plant grows as a bush or a small tree. It has lovely flowers that can be white, light pink, or yellow, always with a dark red center. You can find the native rosella growing naturally in parts of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.
What Does It Look Like?
The native rosella is usually a bush or a small tree. Its stems can be a bit prickly. The leaves on the lower parts of the plant are often egg-shaped or have three to five lobes, like fingers. The leaves higher up are more narrow, shaped like an oval or a spear, and can be about 5 to 18 centimeters long.
The flowers grow one by one where the leaves meet the stem. Each flower has green parts called sepals at its base, which are about 2 to 3.5 centimeters long. These sepals are covered in tiny, rusty-colored, star-shaped hairs. The main part of the flower, called the corolla, is about 5 to 7 centimeters long. It can be pale pink, white, or yellow, and always has a dark red spot in the middle.
After the flower blooms, it produces a fruit that is about 2 centimeters long. This fruit is covered with soft, straw-colored hairs. You can usually see the native rosella flowering from spring all the way through summer.
Plant Name and History
The scientific name for this plant is Hibiscus heterophyllus. It was first officially described in 1805 by a person named Étienne Pierre Ventenat. He published his description in a book called Jardin de la Malmaison.
The second part of its scientific name, heterophyllus, is interesting! It comes from two Greek words: "hetero," meaning "different," and "phyllus," meaning "leaved." This name was chosen because the plant has leaves that can be different shapes, as you learned earlier.
Where Does It Grow?
The native rosella likes to grow in open forests, rainforests, or areas very close to them. You can find this plant in a wide area of Australia. It grows from the north-east part of Queensland all the way down to the south coast of New South Wales.
Images for kids
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Fruit
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Flower buds
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Native rosella plant
