Hibiscus schizopetalus is a species of Hibiscus native to tropical eastern Africa in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.
It is a shrub growing to 3 m tall. The red or pink flowers are very distinctive in their frilly, finely divided petals. Its common names include Japanese Lantern, Coral Hibiscus and Fringed Rosemallow. Flowers with finely dissected petal have a range of colours, the most common being the red form (Keena et al., 2002; Ng, 2006). Leaves resemble those of H. rosa-sinensis.
The major anthocyanin found in flowers of H. schizopetalus is cyanidin-3-sambusophoroside (Lowry, 1976). From leaves, two new triterpene esters have been isolated (Jose & Vijayan, 2006).
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Detail of the end of bloom
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Hibiscus schizopetalus flower in Trivandrum, Kerala, India