Hibiscus: Hibiscus "Giant Yellow" Identification (circa 1900), 0 by Michael_Ronayne

Michael_Ronayne wrote:
Begin Update 2012-02-20
This plant has been identified as Hibiscus calyphyllus. Additional information has been posted on DG and Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_calyphyllus
End Update 2012-02-20

In my research into the history of hardy Hibiscus, I have found multiple references to yellow Hibiscus. Most reports are obviously of tropical Hibiscus. A few reports reference wild yellow Hibiscus moscheutos in New Jersey and other states, which were the focus of my research. Finally there are reliable reports of a Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” with possibly some degree of cold tolerance.

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century there was a Hibiscus known as Hibiscus "Giant Yellow" which was being sold in 1903 as seeds by Peter Henderson & Co. a New York City plant and seed seller.

Wholesale catalogue for market growers and florists - Peter Henderson & Co – 1903, Page 18
http://books.google.com/books?id=aDLnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA18&dq=Hib...

HIBISCUS africanus, cream, purple eye, annual...
HIBISCUS Rose pink with white base
HIBISCUS Crimson Eye, white, crimson eye, hardy
HIBISCUS Japanese "Manihot" cream, garnet eye
HIBISCUS Giant Yellow, yellow, garnet throat, immense.
HIBISCUS cocclneus, scarlet, perennial

The Japanese "Manihot" is most likely Abelmoschus manihot which was formally known as Hibiscus manihot. I mention this to note that some of Henderson’s Hibiscus seed offerings are no longer considered Hibiscus.

Barbara Perry Lawton in her book “Hibiscus” references Hibiscus "Giant Yellow" in the section of the book on hardy North American hardy Hibiscus, sighting the Peter Henderson 1902 seed catalog as the source. I highly recommend this book to all DG members.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gbw/c/1809/

Barbara Lawton described Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” on pages 58 and 136 of her book as:

Page 58
Among the cultivars for sale were ‘Giant Yellow’, with garnet-eyed, canary-yellow flowers often 9 inches (22.5 cm) across;

Page 136
Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”. An early variety listed in a 1902 catalog, Noted for its 9-inch (22.5 cm) canary-yellow flowers with a garnet eye.

I found two gardening books which reference Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”.

The Flower Garden; a handbook of practical garden lore By Ida Dandridge Bennett, 1903, page 108
http://books.google.com/books?id=5WRDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA108&dq=Hi...

Giant Yellow is a beautiful canary yellow with crimson throat, hardy as far north as St. Louis, but safer in the cellar above that latitude, and Coccinea, a tender perennial of a brilliant crimson. If started early all will give flowers the first season from seed, which may be sown in hotbeds or flats in February or March in drills one-fourth inch deep. They germinate in from five to seven days. Plant out in good garden soil at corn-planting time, setting the hardy varieties where they are to remain, as they do not bear transplanting well when they have attained any considerable size. Cultivate during the hot weather or mulch. A two-quart tin can, with holes on one side near the bottom, may be sunk in the ground and filled with water. This with the mulch will keep the earth cool and moist during the hottest weather. The plant is an herbaceous perennial, dying down to the ground in winter and coming up from the roots the following spring—rather late in May.

St. Louis, Missouri is in USDA Zone 6a (http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html) so we know that Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” was not a tropical. On the other hand it appears to have a cold tolerance similar to the North American native Texas Red Start Hibiscus coccineus.

Success with flowers, a floral magazine, Volumes 11-12, 1900, Page 271
http://books.google.com/books?id=sVBEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA271&dq=Hi...

Another variety of this class of Hibiscus comes under various names, as Chrysantha, Primrose, or Giant Yellow. Its cups are yellow, with a centre either black or maroon. It is even handsomer than Crimson Eye. For a pink in this class I found the Wild Marshmallow very beautiful. Under garden cultivation the cups grew larger than in the wild state. The color was the loveliest seashell pink.

The word Chrysantha is of Greek origin and means "golden flower". Hence the name Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” or Hibiscus “Golden Flower” convey the same information except for size.

A search for Hibiscus chrysantha yields a picture which matches the description of Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”, which was published in 1891 as a chromolithograph in The Mayflower Magazine. A low resolution picture is attached to this post and a high quality reprint is available at: http://www.oldimprints.com/OldImprints/search.cfm?UR=32365&s...

In 1900 the New York Botanical Garden references the species.

Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden, Volume 1, 1900, Page 148
http://books.google.com/books?id=0isWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA148&dq=Hi...

With the exception of the New York Botanical Garden reference, the species Hibiscus chrysantha is not found in any scientific literature, currently available online. The scientific name Hibiscus chrysantha is only referenced in the Mayflower Magazine of 1891 and reprint sellers.

I did find one more clue in American Gardening: Volume 17, 1896, Page 741, for which only a Google Books Snippet view is available.

Hibiscus, Giant Yellow, or Sunset makes an interesting pot plant, and will flower for a while yet. It is easily raised from seed sown in spring, and properly belongs in the perennial border, but it is not hardy here in Chicago.

The Sunset Hibiscus is another name for Hibiscus manihot which is now know as Abelmoschus manihot. If you do a Google Image search on Abelmoschus manihot you find a large variation in leaf conformation, which is characteristic of the species:
http://www.google.com/images?q='abelmoschus manihot'

No DG member is reporting that Abelmoschus manihot is surviving in USDA Zones colder than 8a. The Henderson 1903 catalog did describe Hibiscus manihot accurately and there appeared to be significant differences between Hibiscus manihot and Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”.

Here is what may be known about Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”:

• The plant had the appearance of a Hibiscus.
• The flowers were a bright canary-yellow and were large.
• The plant could survive to Zone 6a.
• The plant may also have been known as H. chrysantha or Sunset Hibiscus.
• The plants description is different from Abelmoschus manihot.
• The plant could be in the Hibiscus or Abelmoschus genus.
• It is uncertain if the picture of Hibiscus chrysantha is Hibiscus “Giant Yellow”.
• Hibiscus chrysantha is not a scientifically recognized species.
• The picture of Hibiscus chrysantha doesn’t resemble A. manihot.
• It is unlikely that the plant is the North American native Hibiscus aculeatus.

As pure speculation on my part, could there be cultivar or subspecies of Abelmoschus manihot which has greater cold tolerance, with larger and yellower flowers. In the Google Image search for Abelmoschus manihot several of the plants have leaves which resemble those in the 1891 photograph from the Mayflower Magazine.

If the Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” exists, it is most likely from Northern Asia. Can any DG member identify Hibiscus “Giant Yellow” and solve a 110 year old mystery?

Mike


This message was edited Feb 22, 2012 9:30 AM