Hibiscus Coccineus aka scarlet hibiscus aka water hibiscus

[Ryan Jarosek]

Anyone have any info on this plant. I have some growing in a makeshift pond on my back patio. They are great looking plants. I am curious if they are safe.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hibiscus_coccineus1.jpg

http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Scarlet Hibiscus.html

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Thought I would bump this one time to see if anyone has any input.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

No clue Ryan.
The true hibiscus varieties that I am familiar with are all safe ... but .. I don't know the plant you have.
Sorry I'm no help.

-Brad

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Thanks, Brad

It is a confusing one, the name hibiscus is misleading. It does not look anything like a hibiscus. The flower is similar but not quite the same.

I am going to continue to research to see what I can find. It is a really nice looking plant

 

[Aly Lane]

I believe this is a Scarlet Rosemallow (Scarlet Hibiscus).

 

[Pure]

I too just bought one of these..any updates. I've looked through several horticultural sites, and non mention toxicity. I guess they are more concerned with the plant's needs than if it's poison.

I believe this is a Scarlet Rosemallow (Scarlet Hibiscus).

Yeah Scarlet Hibiscus is the common name.

Would be nice if it's safe to use. Looks like they would love the wet environment in out cham enclosures.

Edit...more searching...nothing. I decided to feed it to some crickets and some super worms...if they die I will know for sure. But I also just got off the phone with poison control. She listed 15ish hibiscus that are poisonus..This one was not on the list. It however was not on her safe list either.

 

[Pure]

Well early results show no harm to crickets and super worms.

If this works, this has to be the best cham plant out there.

Ryan said he keeps his in stright up water...Care to elaborate Raysn?

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Well early results show no harm to crickets and super worms.

If this works, this has to be the best cham plant out there.

Ryan said he keeps his in stright up water...Care to elaborate Raysn?

I keep mine in a big pot filled with river stones. I have a pump to circulate the water. There is not dirt involved. Just water and rock.

 

[Pure]

OK good news, no deaths so far. But I really can't tell if they are eating it. It dries up pretty fast. I had also been crunching it up into about 1-1.5 inch pieces. So today I just stuck a whole leaf in there.

Considering drying time for the stain on the new cage...I estimate I have another 2-3 days before I need to know for sure.

 

[Pure]

Update. So far so good. I fed this to crix and supers and no one died. The plant is now in the veiled's new habitat and has been for a few days now.

 

[jake01]

I thought about getting a hibiscus, but didn't want to deal with all the dead flowers.