Malvaviscus arboreusTurk's Cap

Malvaviscus arboreus flowers like a hibiscus that never quite opens. Turk's Cap carries bright red pendent flowers whose petals stay furled around a projecting staminal column, and it produces them almost continuously through the warm season on a soft, broad-leaved shrub from the American tropics.

It flowers in shade, which most red-flowering shrubs will not do, and that makes it valuable under canopy trees and along the shaded side of a building.

Specifications

• Height1 to 3 metres, reaching 4 metres in the wet tropics
• Width1 to 2.5 metres
• Native toThe Americas, from Mexico and the Caribbean through Central and South America
• FoliageBroad, softly hairy, three-lobed mid-green leaves; evergreen in frost-free conditions
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers fertile, free-draining soils and adapts to a range of conditions
• LightFull sun to partial shade, flowering well in either
• WaterModerate; regular through the warm months
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions

Additional Features

• FlowersBright red pendent flowers with furled petals and a projecting staminal column, carried near continuously
• UsesIdeal for shaded borders and understorey planting, informal hedging, and nectar and wildlife beds
• SpacingPlant 1 to 1.5 metres apart for an informal hedge or mass
• Low MaintenanceCut back hard in late winter to keep the habit tidy; it reshoots vigorously
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound with basic care
• Wildlife AttractionThe flowers are a reliable nectar source for sunbirds, hummingbirds and butterflies
• Seasonal AppealFlowers across most of the warm year rather than in a single flush

Turk's Cap is one of the few genuinely shade-tolerant shrubs that will hold red flower colour for most of the year.