Flora of New Zealand Series

fou

Tree up to c. 7 m high. Stems not armed, densely clothed in fine stellate hairs when young, becoming ± glabrous when older. Lvs densely clothed in stellate hairs below, velvety to touch, sparsely clothed in stellate hairs above, suborbicular with a short acuminate apex, cordate at base, not lobed and entire, c. 10-30 cm diam.; petioles c. 5-30 cm long; stipules elliptic-ovate, 20-40 mm long, deciduous. Fls in terminal infls; epicalyx segments united into an 8-12-toothed cup, with triangular teeth < ⅓ length of tube; calyx campanulate, densely clothed in stellate hairs; calyx teeth narrowly ovate-triangular, much > tube; petals yellow, reddish brown to purple at base and becoming reddish with age, 30-70 mm long. Capsule separating into 5 cells at dehiscence, each enfolded by a persistent adnate calyx segment. Seeds brown, sparsely papillate, c. 4 mm long.

K.

Pantropical 1964

Dry forests.

FL Nov-Dec.

Sykes (1977) detailed the history of this sp. on Raoul. The united cup-like epicalyx distinguishes fou from all other N.Z. wild Malvaceae (Fig. 80).

Fig. 80. Malvaceae. A Hibiscus tiliaceus, calyx with epicalyx; B Malvaviscus arboreus, calyx with epicalyx; C Sida rhombifolia, calyx. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X68]