Floral Formula of Hibiscus: Description & Features

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Hibiscus is a beautiful flowering plant that has been used for ornamental and therapeutic uses for ages. We have been using the extracts, teas, and supplements made from these flowers. 

  • The Floral Formula of Hibiscus, also called China Rose, is a type of angiosperm that belongs to the family of Malvaceae.
  • You can also call these flowers with the name roselle or Hibiscus sabdariffa.
  • The floral formula displays the various floral structures and qualities that make up a flower.
  • Hibiscus preparations are used in traditional medicine to treat diseases like liver issues and high blood pressure.
  • It is a flowering plant native to India and Malaysia and comes in a variety of forms, including plants, shrubs, and trees.
  • Hibiscus sabdariffa, a shrub with red stems and yellow flowers that turn pink and scarlet, is the most commonly cultivated type. 
  • It is a subtropical flowering plant that can be found in China, Thailand, Sudan, Nigeria, and Mexico, among other places.

Key Terms: Floral Formula of Hibiscus, Floral Formula, Hibiscus, Flowering Plant, Genus, Petals, Angiosperm, Calyx, Pollination, Corolla, Androecium, Malvaceae


Constituents of the Floral Formula of Hibiscus

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Floral formula of hibiscus is one of the important subjects in the study of flowering plants. The genus has several hundred species that can be found all over the world in warm-temperate and tropical regions. 

  • Member species are notable for their enormous, beautiful flowers and are frequently referred to as "hibiscus" or "rose mallow," respectively. 
  • You might be aware of other names for this plant, which include hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon, and tropical hibiscus.
  • A floral formula is a mathematical and symbolic description of the flower's physical characteristics. 
  • The floral formula of the Hibiscus flower is as follows:

Br Brl ⊕ ⚥ K( 5 ) C( 5 ) A(∞)

  • where Br and Brl indicate the hibiscus is a type of bracteate flower
  • ⊕ indicates that hibiscus is a type of actinomorphic flower.
  • ⚥ indicate that it is a bisexual flower composed of both androecium and gynoecium. 
  • K indicate calyx (there are a total five sepals in the calyx whorl)
  • C indicate corolla (there are five free petals whorl)
  • A(∞) indicates the androecium of the flower
  • Bracket indicates sepals are fused into a tube-like structure 
​Hibiscus

Hibiscus

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Systematic Position of Malvaceae

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The systematic position of malvaceae are as follows:

  • Division: Embryophyta Siphonogama
  • Sub Division: Angiospermae
  • Class: Dicotyledonaea
  • Subclass: Archichlamydeae
  • Order: Malvales
  • Family: Malvaceae

Features of Malvaceae Family

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The Malvaceae family (order Malvales) includes 243 genera and 4,225 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees. Cotton (different Gossypium species), chocolate (Theobroma cacao), linden (Tilia species), durian (Durio species), Hibiscus, and okra are all economically important (Abelmoschus esculentus).

  • The leaves are alternating, oval to lanceolate, and typically toothed or lobed at the edges (dentate).
  • The flowers are huge, showy, trumpet-shaped.
  • They have five or more petals in a variety of colors ranging from white to pink, red, blue, orange, peach, yellow, or purple, with a width of 4–18 cm.
  • Pollen grains form a large, spiny and spherical structure, which, when combined with monothecous anthers, will form numerous stamens.
  • The anthers of flowers are uniform and monotonous with a staminal tube enclosed in the gynoecium.

The table represents some common plants of the Malvaceae family:

Common name Scientific name
China rose or shoe flower Hibiscus rosa sinensis
Cotton Gossypium herbaceum
Lady’s finger Hibiscus esculentus
Mallow Malva sylvestris
Hina Pavonia odorata
Indian tulip Thespesia populnea
Features of Malvaceae Family (Hibiscus)

Features of Malvaceae Family (Hibiscus)

Size and Distribution

Hibiscus (about 550 species), Pavonia (approximately 200 species), and Sida (150–200 species) are all common, with sida being especially diverse in the New World.

  • Nototriche is a genus of about 100 species native to South America.
  • The stamens frequently form a tube, and the epicalyx (a whorl of leaf-like bracts that surrounds the sepals) is especially common in those genera.
  • They are mainly herbs or bushes that have spiky pollen and are found in moderate to tropical climates.

Description of the Family

The description of the hibiscus family are as follows:

Habitat

The majority of the members are terrestrial mesophytes.

Habit

Few are annuals (Malva, Althaea) or perennial herbs (Malva, Althaea), and some grow to be quite tall (Lavatera). Some are small trees, such as Kydia and Thespesia populnea, while others are shrubs, such as Hibiscus rosa Sinensis and Gossypium species.

Root

Roots usually have a tap root system with a lot of branching.

Stem and leaf

The leaves are usually alternating, palmately lobed or complex, and veined palmately. Although the margin may be complete, when a tooth is dentate, a vein emerges at the tip of each tooth (malvoid teeth).

  • Stem consists of stipules, mucous canals and mucous cavities.
  • Hairs are plentiful, and the majority of them are stellate.
  • Bombacoideae stems are frequently coated in dense prickles.
Inflorescence

Solitary cymes in the leaf axil or raceme, usually cymose.

Flower

The blooms are usually found in axillary inflorescences, which are usually limited to a single flower but can sometimes be cauliflorous, oppositifolious, or terminal. In the structure of a bicolor unit, they frequently have extra bracts. 

  • They can be unisexual or bisexual, and they're usually actinomorphic, with prominent bracts that form an epicalyx. 
  • They have five valvate sepals, most of which are basally connate, and five imbricate petals in general. 
  • The stamens range in number from five to a hundred, and they connate at least at their bases, but they frequently form a tube around the pistils.
Calyx

Calyx consists of five green petals, gamosepalous with valvate aestivation and the odd sepal positioned posteriorly.

Epicalyx

Bracteoles form a whorl on the surface of the calyx, which looks like a calyx. The outer calyx has 5-8 free green bracteoles, but the number varies by species.

Corolla

Corolla consists of five twisted aestivations, a polypetalous bust basally adnate with the staminal column in different colours.

Androecium

Anthers reniform, monothecous, extrorse dehiscing transversally or longitudinally, number of stamens, monadelphous, filaments fuse to create a tubular staminal column around gynoecium, filaments merge to form a tubular staminal column around gynoecium

Gynoecium

The style is lengthy and simple, with a narrow passage through the staminal tube. On the axile placentation, stigma five is pigmented and capitate, pentacarpellary syncarpous, ovary superior, and ovary pentalocular with multiple oculi per locule. There are twice as many stigmata in the style as in the carpels.

Fruit

Typically, the fruits include loculicidal capsules, schizocarps, or nuts.

Seeds

Exalbuminous, having a bent embryo and one or more seeds per locule.

Pollination

Protandry is frequently used to avoid self-pollination. The majority of organisms are entomophiles (pollinated by insects). Ptilothrix, Diadasia, and Melitoma bees belong to the Emphorini tribe of the Apidae, which specializes in plants.


Economic Importance of the Hibiscus Flower

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Hibiscus flowers are mainly used to make medicine for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The flower also helps increase the production of breast milk, reduce infectious diseases, and treat many other health conditions.

  • You can use hibiscus flower for controlling hair loss as it contain vitamin C and amino acids.
  • The flower is used for the treatment of the cancer and other cardiac and nerve diseases.
  • It helps in improving the circulation of blood in the body.

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Things to Remember

  • The hibiscus has endless stamens united into a single tube linked to the petals (monadelphous state) (epipetalous). 
  • The epipetalous state is shown by the attaching line from C5 to A (∞).
  • The gynoecium whorl of the flower is represented by G(5), with 5 denoting five fused carpels.
  • The Hibiscus Floral Formula is the numeric representation of the floral structures of the flower.
  • The bract and bracteole should be written first, followed by the symmetry and sex of the flower, the calyx, corolla, androecium, and gynoecium.
  • Following the applicable symbol, the number of pieces of each organ (K, C, A, G).

Sample Questions

Ques: What are the malvaceae family's unique characteristics? (2 marks)

Ans: Malvaceae shares mucilaginous sap, simple alternating, and stipulate leaves with Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. It differs from them in possessing monothecous anthers, monadelphous state, and the existence of involucre or epicalyx, according to Bentham and Hooker. Malvales was Hutchinson's choice for the single-family.

Second Answer

Ans: Members of the Malvaceae family share several characteristics with Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae, including mucilaginous sap, simple, alternate leaves, and stipules. However, according to Bentham and Hooker, the Malvaceae family can be distinguished by three key features: monothecous anthers, a monadelphous condition, and the presence of an involucre or epicalyx. 

Ques: What is the hibiscus flower's economic importance? (2 marks)

Ans: Medicinal characteristics can be found in the leaves, roots, and flowers. The leaves and calyces have been eaten, and the blossoms have been steeped to make tea. Hibiscus has been used as a diuretic and mild laxative in traditional medicine, as well as to cure cancer, heart, and neurological illnesses.

Second Answer

Ans: Hibiscus flowers are known for their enormous, bright colors. These flowers are not only beautiful in the garden or at home, but they also have medicinal properties.

  • Teas and liquid extracts prepared from the flowers and leaves can be used to cure a variety of ailments.
  • There is a slew of hibiscus flower advantages that are both wonderful and beneficial to us.
  • Hibiscus can aid with weight loss and cancer, as well as a variety of other ailments, such as: high blood pressure bacterial infections fever upset stomach.

Ques: Define the phrase "inflorescence" in your own words. Explain the different varieties of inflorescence seen in flowering plants? (2 marks)

Ans: A group or cluster of flowers formed on a stem made of a primary branch or a sophisticated arrangement of branches is known as an inflorescence. A plant's reproductive part that bears a cluster of flowers in a certain pattern is also known as an inflorescence.

Second Answer

Ans: In botany, an inflorescence refers to a cluster of flowers arranged on a stem. This stem can be either a simple main branch or a more elaborate system of branches. Essentially, it's the flowering unit of a plant, bearing flowers in a specific pattern.

Ques: What exactly is a flower? Describe the many components of an angiosperm flower? (2 marks)

Ans: Any flowering plant's reproductive unit is known as a flower (angiosperms). Flowers use angiosperms to reproduce sexually. A modified stem with a condensed axis is a characteristic flower. A flower's four parts are the calyx, corolla, androecium, and gynoecium.

Second Answer

Ans: Flowering plants are built from three main tissue systems: epidermal, ground, and vascular.

  • The outermost layer is the epidermal tissue system, responsible for protection.
  • Moving inwards, we find the ground tissue system, primarily composed of parenchyma cells.
  • This system provides support, storage, and various other functions.
  • Deepest within lies the vascular tissue system, which facilitates transport of water, nutrients, and manufactured sugars throughout the plant.
  • This system includes the pericycle, pith, xylem, and phloem.

Ques: How do different leaf changes benefit plants? (2 marks)

Ans: The leaves of a few plants have been altered to perform distinct roles. (a) Tendrils: Tendrils are modified pea plant leaves that assist the plant in climbing. (b) Spines: Cactus leaves are converted into sharp spines that serve as a defence organ... These plants' petioles manufacture nourishment.

Second Answer

Ans: The benefits leaf provides depend on the specific change, which includes changing colour in fall, which conserves resources. Losing of leaves in tough weather conditions will help trees to survive. Thicker leaves help reduce water loss through transpiration.

Ques: Justify the following statements based on external characteristics: A modified shoot is referred to as a flower. (2 marks)

Ans: The floral meristem develops from the apical meristem throughout the flowering season. The stem's axis becomes condensed, while the internodes become closer together. Rather than leaves, the node sprouts a variety of floral appendages. As a result, the flower can be considered a modified shoot.

Second Answer

Ans: Throughout the flowering season, the apical meristem gives rise to the floral meristem. The internodes move closer together as the axis of the stem is constricted. The node sprouts a variety of floral appendages instead of leaves. The flower can therefore be thought of as a modified shoot.

Ques: Describe the malvaceae family's root, stem, leaf, and inflorescence? (2 marks)

Ans: Malvaceae shares mucilaginous sap, simple alternating, and stipulate leaves with Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. It differs from them in possessing monothecous anthers, monadelphous state, and existence of involucre or epicalyx, according to Bentham and Hooker. Malvales was Hutchinson's choice for the single family.

Second Answer

Ans: The Malvaceae family, also known as the mallow family, have taproots, a primary root that grows straight down into the soil. Stems contain a sticky substance that helps retain water and protect the plant from herbivores. Leaves arise singly along the stem at different heights. The inflorescence are often associated with conspicuous bracts, forming an epicalyx.

Ques: Is Hibiscus a male or female flower? (2 marks)

Ans: Hibiscus flowers are neither male nor female. They are perfect flowers containing both male and female reproductive organs. The male parts are called stamens, which are composed of filaments and anthers. The female parts are called pistils, which include a stigma, ovary and style tube for the movement of pollen.

Second Answer

Ans: Unlike some plants, hibiscus flowers are not exclusively male or female. Instead, they are perfect flowers, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs within a single bloom. The male components are called stamens. These are composed of two parts: filaments, which act as stalks, and anthers, which produce pollen grains containing sperm cells. The female part is called a pistil.

Ques: What are the benefits of using hibiscus flowers for hair? (3 marks)

Ans: The benefits of using hibiscus flowers for hair are as follows:

  • Hibiscus is rich in amino acids, which will promote hair growth.
  • It contains vitamin C, which helps strengthen hair strands.
  • The flower contains a gelatinous substance, which will make hair feel softer, smoother, and more manageable.

Second Answer

Ans: Hibiscus flowers hold promise for promoting healthy hair in several ways:

  • Rich in Amino Acids: Hibiscus are building blocks of protein that thought stimulate the scalp and hair follicles, potentially encouraging hair growth.
  • Vitamin C Content: This vitamin may contribute to the production of keratin, a protein essential for strong, healthy hair, reducing breakage and split ends.
  • Natural Conditioning Properties: Hibiscus flowers contain mucilage, a gelatinous substance that leaves hair feeling softer, smoother, and more manageable.

Ques: Can we use a hibiscus flower for the face? (2 marks)

Ans: Hibiscus can be used to purify the complexion of your skin. It helps reduce the age spots and helps you get a fresher and glowing skin complexion with regular use. The flower contains AHAs that improve the texture of your skin and add a charismatic glow to your face.

Second Answer

Ans: Hibiscus can be a valuable tool for achieving a clearer complexion. Regular use may help reduce the appearance of age spots and promote a fresher, more radiant glow. This flower's magic lies in its alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), which work to improve skin texture and leave your face looking beautifully luminous.

Ques: How can we write a floral formula? (2 marks)

Ans: You will find it helpful to know that the floral formula is always stated in an outside-in manner, such as Bracteoles → Perianth or Sepals and Petals → Stamens → Carpels → Ovules.

Second Answer

Ans: Floral formulas provide a concise way to describe the structure of a flower by following an outside-in order approach. The sequence of the formula goes as Bracteoles → Perianth or Sepals and Petals → Stamens → Carpels → Ovules. It describes the flower parts starting from the outermost layer (bracteoles) and moving inwards towards the center (ovules).


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