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Hibiscus

The genus Hibiscus has been determined to be paraphyletic, due, in part, to reliance on shared ancestral characters (i.e., symplesiomorphies) for defining the genus (Pfeil et al. 2002). It may be necessary to utilize many splinter genera to create a monophyletic Hibiscus. If this option is followed, it means that both H. moscheutos and H. trionum would be transferred to other genera.

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H. syriacus
1a. Plants woody; leaf blades glabrous on the abaxial surface; seeds ciliate
See list of 2 species in 1b
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1b. Plants herbaceous; leaf blades stellate-pubescent on the abaxial surface; seeds eciliate
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  H. moscheutos
  2a. Leaf blades unlobed or with sinuses extending shortly beyond the midpoint of the blade, moderately to densely stellate-pubescent abaxially; petals 40–100 mm long, white to pink or red-pink, sometimes with a red to purple base
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  H. trionum
  2b. Leaf blades conspicuously 3-lobed with deep sinuses extending to near the leaf base, sparsely stellate-pubescent to ± glabrous abaxially; petals 15–40 mm long, yellow with  a purple base

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Show photos of: Each photo represents one species in this genus.