The name is a mouthful: Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow. A flamboyant flower, it is native to wetlands of Iowa and other states in the east and southeast. The blossom is a lovely pale pink, which deepens in the center of the flower.
To see it…
I have never seen a Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow flower in real life. If you would like to see it, please visit a good article in Laura Belin’s Bleeding Heartland website, where you’ll find photos by Marla Mertz.
I have of course seen tropical hibiscus flowers, huge blossoms that exude an island air. Our native hibiscus looks similar. However, our own hibiscus can do something special: it can endure harsh Iowa winters and come back to bloom again.
I’m looking forward to growing it on my own land, if I can find the right spot for it. I’ll try it along the edge of the pond, at various distances away from, and into, the waterline. This will be an education.
Starting with seeds
Leland Searles, who is devoted to re-wilding Iowa, the Midwest, and the world, sent me seeds he gathered himself. Yesterday I popped some of them into a baggie with moist vermiculate and put them in the fridge to cool their heels until the middle of April. This will fulfill the seeds’ requirement for 60 days of cold, damp stratification. Then I’ll put them under grow lights and watch for them to sprout.
The seeds are fairly large, as wildflower seeds go, about 3 mm across. They are not rounded but have oddly flat surfaces. They’re covered with fine, reddish hairs, which give them a friendly-fuzzy-dog look.
On one side of each seed is a bare, narrow oval with a line down the middle. This is the seed scar, marking where the seed was attached inside the pod, and through which the developing seed received nutrition. It’s called the hilum, and it’s the seed’s version of a belly button. (Click the middle image above to better see the hilum.)
About the names
The plant’s scientific name is Hibiscus laevis, the second word sometimes being spelled laeve. However, this flower is better known by its scientific name, Hibiscus, than by the supposedly “common name” of Mallow.
So what’s with HALBERD?
Medieval warriors had a weapon known as a halberd, mounted on a pole. At the end was a spike to poke at the other guy.
Leaves of the Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow have a long, pointed central lobe and at the base two side lobes. To someone, the leaf must have looked like a halberd weapon. I think it was an unkind name to slap on the innocent flower. When the plant grows for me I’m simply going to call it Rose Mallow, which is an alternate name for this plant anyway. And kinder.
Where it grows
Here’s the map of where Hibiscus laevis grows, according to the BONAP North American Plant Atlas.
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Thanks for the description of "Halberd-leaved." I know there are Halberd-leaved violets in my area (NE Ohio) but I didn't know why they had such an odd name.
So fascinating!