Pentapetes
Pentapetes is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae. It contains a single species, Pentapetes phoenicea, called the noon flower and occasionally cultivated.[1] The flower is also known as "Midday Flower" or "Scarlet Mallow". This is so named as the flowers open around noon, and closes around next day early morning.
| Pentapetes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pentapetes phoenicea | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Subfamily: | Dombeyoideae |
| Genus: | Pentapetes L. |
| Species: | P. phoenicea |
| Binomial name | |
| Pentapetes phoenicea | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Scarlet Mallow, Midday/Noon Flower | |
The plant grows around 4–6 ft in height and the branches are long and spreading. Leaves are 6–10 cm in length, toothed at the margins, usually having a broad base and tapering to a pointed tip. Flowers are born in the axils of the leaves with 5 large deep red colored petals. The fruit is a 5-valved, rounded, hairy capsule, about 1 centimetre in diameter. The seeds, which are not winged, occur 8–12 in two series in each cell.
The flower is native to a wide region of tropical South Asia from Ceylon and India to northern Australia and the Philippines.