Abutilon mauritianum
Abutilon mauritianum is a yellow-flowered shrub in the mallow family, Malvaceae. Its native range includes tropical and southern Africa, parts of Arabia and the Comoros. Plants of the World Online recognises it as an accepted species growing primarily in seasonally dry tropical environments.[1]
Description
The leaves and stems bear soft hairs. Leaves are broad, often heart-shaped, with toothed edges and a paler, greyer underside. Yellow petals may have red markings near their bases. Regional floras give different height ranges: the East African account includes plants exceeding three metres, while a South African description gives about 1.5 metres.[1][2]
The fruit consists of many segments arranged around a centre. In the Flora Zambesiaca description, there are 25–40 segments, each with two or three seeds and a conspicuous elongated point. Ripe fruits darken, and the pointed segments can spread out in a star-like shape.[1]
Habitat and flowering
The South African account records the shrub along roadsides, on disturbed ground and in open woodland, on several soil types. It gives elevations of 275–730 metres and a flowering period from June to March. These figures describe the regional records used by that flora; they are not limits for the species across Africa and Arabia.[2]
Name
The accepted botanical name is Abutilon mauritianum (Jacq.) Medik. Kew records publication of this combination in 1787.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. “Abutilon mauritianum”. Plants of the World Online, including Exell, A. W. (1961), Malvaceae in Flora Zambesiaca, and Verdcourt, B.; Mwachala, G. (2009), Flora of Tropical East Africa. Accessed 8 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 South African National Biodiversity Institute. “Abutilon mauritianum”. Biodiversity Advisor, description from Retief, E.; Herman, P. P. J. (1997), Plants of the Northern Provinces of South Africa, Strelitzia 6. Accessed 8 October 2026.