Hibiscus tridactylites Lindl.

in Mitchell, Three Exped. Australia 1: 85. 1838; Craven et al., New Zealand J. Bot. 49(1): 27. 2011; Badry et al., Phytotaxa 416(4): 279. 2019; Hibiscus trionum sensu Mast. in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 334: 1874; Hochreuniter, Ann. Cons. Jard. Bot. Geneve 4: 144. 1900; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 88. 1915; Cooke, Fl. Bombay 1: 111. 1958 (Repr. ed.); Rakshit & Kundu, Bull. Bot. Surv. India 12: 186. 1970(1972); Saldanha & Nicolson, Fl. Hassan Dist. 152: 1976; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 253: 1984; Lakshmin. & Sharma, Fl. Nasik Dist., 89. 1991; T.K. Paul in Sharma & Sanjappa (eds.), Fl. India 3: 341. 1993; Sivaraj. & Pradeep, Malv. South. P. India 146: 1996; Venkanna & Das in Singh & Karthik. (eds.), Fl. Maharashtra 1: 316. 2000; Pull. & D.M. Rao, Fl. Eastern Ghats 133. 2002; M.Mohanan & A. V. N.Rao in P.Daniel (ed.), Fl. Kerala 1: 425. 2005; Kshirsagar & Patil, Fl. Jalgaon Dist. 58. 2008; Yadav & Sardesai, Fl. Kolhapur 69–72. 2002.

Lectotype (designated by Craven et al., 2011): AUSTRALIA, New South Wales, between the Gwydir and Namoi, longitude c. 150°E, 1832, T.L. Mitchell s.n. (CGE digital image!). Fig. 1

Annual, erect to decumbent, much-branched herbs, to 30–60 cm high; stems 0.3–0.6 mm in diam., herbaceous, terete, covered with tuberclebased hairs. Leaves alternate, 2.5–7.5 × 1.5–6.5 cm, stipulate; stipules filiform, 3–6 mm long; petioles terete, 0.5–4.5 cm, strigose hairy with simple and stellate hairs; basal leaves broadly-ovate, tripartite, round at base, obtuse at apex, margins irregularly crenate to serrulate; middle and distal leaves 3-palmatisect, lobes extended to the apex of the petiole. Flowers in solitary cymes, axillary, rarely terminal; peduncles 0.5–2 cm long, terete, strigose hairy, intermixed with coarse and simple stellate hairs; pedicels 0.5–2 cm long, coarsely hairy. Epicalyx c. 2.5 cm in diam., 12–14 segmented; segments filiform, 0.8–1 cm long, pointed towards apex, strigose hairy throughout with stellate hairs at the center. Calyx c. 2.8 × c. 1.5 cm, 5-lobed; lobes ovate, acute at apex, 3–5-nerved, densely strigose, stellate tubercle hairs on nerves, simple stellate hairs on the margins. Petals 5, obovate, c. 3 × c. 0.8 cm, pale yellow to yellow, 8–9-nerved with dark purple or maroon spot at base. Stamens many; staminal column c. 1.3 cm long; anthers c. 1 mm long. Ovary globose, 0.2–0.3 cm diam., glabrous; style 0.3–0.7 cm long, straight, glabrous divided at apex into five segments; stigmas discoid with papillate hairs, 0.2–0.3 cm across. Capsules globose, 1.5–2.7 cm in diam., slightly depressed at apex, hairy enclosed in a bladder like persistent calyx. Seeds 15–30, more or less reniform, 2.3– 2.6 mm diam., mature ones glandular-papillose, rugose.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from July to November and fruiting from September to January.

Distribution: Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Cape Provinces, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, New South Wales, Niger, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Oman, Queensland, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sinai, Somalia, South Australia, St. Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Victoria, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Boulos, 2000, 2009; Craven, 2011; POWO, 2023), India (Fig. 3).

Specimens/images examined: INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, January 1863, Roxburgh s.n. (BR [BR0000013466749] digital image); Jammu, Srinagar, Barzalla, 27.08.1961, A.K. Dutt 5383 (IIIM); Gulmarg, s.d., A.R. Naqshi 514 (KASH); Kashmir University, s.d., A.R. Naqshi 195 (KASH); Kokernag, s.d., I.M. Nahvi s.n. (KASH); Srinagar, s.d., G.N. Javeid 360 (KASH); Dachigam, s.d., G. Singh 888 (KASH); Ganderbal, s.d., G.H. Dar 3004 (KASH), Shuhama, Ganderbal, s.d., G.H. Dar 2943, 2944 (KASH); Sarich (Ganderbal), s.d., G.H. Dar 1767 - 68 (KASH); Narbal, s.d., A.R. Naqshi & G.N. Dar 8173, 8175 (KASH); South Srinagar, August 1982, P.W. Mackinnon 54765 (CAL). Karnataka, Hassan, Arsikere, 19.12.1968, C. J. Saldanha 11940 (JCB); Mysore, February, s. coll. 1872 (K [K000659806] digital image); Maharashtra, Nashik, Panchavati, 06.12.2020, N.A. Madhav, J.V. Dalavi & A.V. Mohite JVD-1701 (SUK); Pune, Junnar, Shiveneri Fort, 15.09.2021, S.R. Yadav JVD-1702 (SUK); Tamil Nadu, Thiruvanmalai, 29.08.2001, R. Vijayashankar 38435 (FRLH); Telangana, Hyderabad, 20.08.1898. B. Heyene s.n. (K [K000659807] digital image).