What is the difference between the big flat face of the rose mallow and the little dimple of the African mallow?

About the author: One Hand for Painting, One Hand for Flowers: Landscape architecture major, deeply in love with plants and nature since childhood, hoping to work with plants all along, in this world only beautiful flowers and delicious food are not to be let down, Weibo @One Hand for Painting, One Hand for Flowers

The Malvaceae family has similar looks, and at a glance you can tell they are one family, but they also vary in plumpness and slenderness, each with its own charm. Look at the rose mallow and the African mallow, one big and one small, the size of their flowers really differs quite a lot.

The rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) is a perennial herb in the genus Hibiscus of the Malvaceae family, native to the eastern United States, with fairly strong adaptability, and it is cultivated in both southern and northern China. The first time I saw it, my reaction was, wow, this flower really has a big face! One hand cannot cover it, no wonder people in the trade call it the big flat face hibiscus.

The rose mallow loves sunlight, and summer is its brilliant season. Right now it is in bloom, with flowers borne singly in the leaf axils at the ends of the branches. It has many cultivars, red, pink and white, each big face especially showy; even mixed into a clump of arrowhead vine leaves, its big face cannot be hidden and it stands out dazzlingly. The large petals make the central stamens and pistils look delicate and weak, and some flowers have five petals whose outlines join together into an especially round shape, truly living up to the name of big flat face.

And when the flowers have finished blooming, the beauty growing old, one big flower wrinkles its face and bows its head, its area shrinking rapidly. I wonder what filling is rolled up in this big pancake?

While the African mallow (Anisodontea capensis) of the genus Anisodontea in the Malvaceae family has flowers about the size of a thumbnail, and compared with that big flat face, it is just a little dimple.

The African mallow is native to South Africa and is a perennial small shrub. This sweet little dimple also has cute aliases, Jade Linglong and Mini Hibiscus, and just hearing them tells you it is dainty and delicate. It is suitable for pot culture and can also be shaped into an exquisite lollipop form. Though it cannot catch your gaze from afar, it can make you crouch down to admire it closely, wanting to hold it in the palm of your hand.

The small leaves are finely lobed, and the flowers bloom in the leaf axils. The five delicate pink petals are light and elegant, as if dancing on the fingertips, which makes me think of the song "Little Dimple": "Little dimple, long eyelashes, charming beyond cure..." Singing it to the African mallow fits just right too.

The big flat face smiles into bloom and reveals a little dimple. Tell me, is it sweet or not~

Author: One Hand for Painting, One Hand for Flowers

Images: One Hand for Painting, One Hand for Flowers

This work is licensed under the (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license agreement

Please retain the above statement when reposting