I found these specimens in a rather large, semi-shaded, landscape planting outside the entryway of the My-Casino on Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada in April of 2012. Though they don't appear native to this area, there were hundreds of them that all seemed to be doing quite well. I want to give credit to my daughter Cheryl Arsenault for being the first to help me identify them.
Description: The species Hibiscus moscheutos, commonly called Swamp-rose Mallow or Rose Mallow, is a cold-hardy perennial wetland plant that can grow in large colonies. This particular plant appears to be Hibiscus lasiocarpos, one of the many popular hybrid cultivars of the Hibiscus moscheutos. Commonly found found along streams, ponds and lakes and in marshy areas, roadside ditches, and sometimes in shallow standing water and it is generally native to the wetlands and river systems of the southeastern United States from Texas to the Atlantic states, as well as parts of California and northern Mexico. Though it prefers full or partial sun and moist conditions, it can grow in sand or clay with sufficient moisture. It is a large, bushy perennial herb with sprawling stems reaching three to six feet long. The leaves are heart-shaped, toothed, and pointed, and generally between 2 and 4 inches long. Its inflorescence holds large showy, solitary flowers. Each flower has a cup of partly fused sepals beneath a layer of slender bracts that may be covered in hairs or woolly fibers. There exists in nature numerous forms and petal colors that range from pure white to deep rose, and, except for one genome with a yellow eye, most have an eye of deep maroon. The flower's large petals may be up to 4 inches long. The stamen tube and anthers are white or cream. The fruit is a capsule 3/4 to an 1-inch long containing spherical seeds.
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