Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Cooperi’.
Cooper’s Snowflake Hibiscus is also sold as ‘Snow Queen’ and possibly other names.
They are evergreen multi-stemmed shrubs with dense foliage almost down to the ground.
Often seen around 2 m high old shrubs can be nearly twice that.
Young stems are a dark purplish-red while older woody ones are grey or brown.
The alternate leaves are on petioles the same colour as the young stems.
There is a pair of linear stipules at the base.
The ovate blades are white when new and older ones can be all green.
Most leaves are variegated in white, pale to deep pink and pale green.
The blade edges have large sharp teeth.
Inflorescences are solitary pendulous flowers up to 10 cm across on a long pedicel.
There are up to 10 widely spreading pale green bracts in the epicalyx.
The narrow tubular calyx has 5 long pointed triangular lobes.
The 5 overlapping bright red petals spread out and curl back.
They are typical Hibisus rosa-sinensis flowers.
The long red to pink staminal column, with 5 pointed lobes extends well past the corolla.
Anthers, on the short free pink filament tips are on the distal third of the column.
The 5 pink style branches emerging from the column have red stigma lobes.
There are a few hairs on the top of the column, a lot on the style branches and tiny ones on the stigma lobes.
J.F.
