Abutilon

Abutilon

Common Name: Flowering Maple, Parlor Maple, and Indian Mallow

Family: Malvacae (Mallow)

Height x Width: 1-12' x 1-6'

Growth habit: upright, shrub-like

Growth rate: fast in warm setting

Foliage: Usually trifoliate, resembling the genus Acer (hence the common name, flowering maple). Leaves can be medium green or speckled with gold. The gold results from a virus.

Flowers: Usually yellow or orange petaled, although pink, mauve, red, apricot, purple, and white are also available

Hardiness: varies with species, generally zone 8 and 9

Soil: well-drained, average

Light: Sheltered sun to shade south, tolerates full sun in north if sufficient water

Pests & Problems: Aphids, spider mites, scale insects, whitefly, and mealybugs. Drafts and changes in location can cause leaf drop.

Landscape Habit & Uses: A pretty container plant for cooler climates. In warmer areas, they are a small shrub that do well trained against walls.

Other Interest: Native to southern Brazil.

Other Culture: Prune untidy or lanky stems in the spring. Water well in the summer, but avoid waterlogging the roots. Water sparingly in the winter, but avoid letting the plant dry out completely. Warm in the summer (outside) and cool in the winter (50-54ºF, 10-12ºC).

Propagation: Tip cuttings taken in the spring. Hybrids may be grown from seed and will bloom the same year if started in the winter.

Species:

x hybridum (hi' bri-dum)-- A group of hybrids between A. darwinii and A. striatum. All have softly hairy, lobed leaves and bell-shaped flowers with incurving petals. U.S. zones 9-11.
insigne (in-sig' knee)-- Native to Columbia and Venezuela, growing 6' tall. Leaves are entire and shallowly lobed. Flowers are bell-shaped, and white to purple with dark purple veins. Hardy to 32ºF (0ºC).
megapotamicum (meg-ah-pot-ah' mi-cum)-- Native to southern Brazil and Uruguay, where it grows to 8'. Flowers are small, yellow, and pendant, with a large red calyx. Hardy to U.S. zone 8 (10-20ºF, 6-12ºC)x milleri (mill' er-ii)-- long, narrow leaves and pale orange flowers with red calyces.
pictum (pick' tum)-- Native to Brazil. Leaves toothed and 3, 5, or 7 lobed. Similar to a Japanese maple. Flowers have protruding stamens, with orange-yellow petals that are veined with dark crimson.
savitzii (sa-vit' zee-ii)-- green leaves with extensive cream marbled variegation; infrequent salmon flowers, so best for foliage
x suntense (sun-tense')-- A cross between to native Chilean species, A. vitifolium and A. ochsenii. It is a tall shrub with mauve or white flowers. U.S. zones 8-9.
venosum (ve-no' sum)-- Native to Brazil, with 5-7 lobed leaves like a Japanese maple. Flowers are orange-yellow and veined with brown.
vitifolium (vi-ti-fol' ee-um) (syn. Corynabutilon vitifolium)- Native to Southern Chile, a fast-growing shrub with felted leaves and violet or white flowers. Likes a cool, moist climate. U.S. zones 8-9.

Cultivars:

Cultivar	Species	Foliage	Flowers
'Album'	vitifolium	Green	white
'Apricot'	x hybridum	Green	Pale orange with darker red veins, bell-shaped
'Ashford Red'	x hybridum	variegated	Soft red
'Boule de Neige'	x hybridum	Green	White, flushed with pale pink in the summer, narrow, bell-shaped.
'Canary Bird'	megapotamicum	Glossy, green	Clear yellow, bell-shaped.
'Cannington Peter'	x hybridum	Yellow-mottled	Dark crimson incurved.
'Cerise Queen'	x hybridum	Dark green	Medium-deep pink, with spirally overlapping petals. Has deeper pink veins.
'Cynthia Pike'	x milleri	Shallowly lobed	Orange-yellow spreading petals with red calyces.
'Daffy'	x milleri	Three-lobed	Yellow with spreading petals, very floriferous.
'Dwarf Red'	x hybridum	plants under 2 feet	orange-red bells
'Fireball'	x hybridum		red
'Gold Dust'	pictum	pale green splotched yellow	orange, continuous
'Golden Fleece'	x hybridum	Green with reddish-purple veining, more heart-shaped than others.	Pale yellow, bell-shaped, with incurved petals.
'Gorer's White'	x suntense	green	Open, white, very floriferous.
'Hinton Seedling'	x milleri	Almost unlobed	Red, with spreading petals.
'Jermyns'	x suntense	green	Deep mauve
'Kentish Belle'	x milleri	Green, long and narrow	Large, orange flowers with red veins.
'Linda Vista Peach'	x hybridum		peach
'Louis Marignac'	x hybridum	Green with three pronounced lobes	Pale pink, with incurved and overlapping petals.
'Moonchimes'	x hybridum	Medium green	Yellow with an apricot tip in bud, pale yellow in flower. Bell shaped or flat.
'Nabob'	x hybridum'	Dark green	Dark raspberry colored flowers, with incurved petals.
'Orange King'	x hybridum	Green	Dark orange
'Patrick Singe'	x milleri	Green	Orange, with spreading petals.
'Ruby Glow'	x hybridum	Variegated	Dark orange with red veins.
'Savitzii'	x hybridum	3" long, white blotched with green
'Silver Belle'	x hybridum	Medium-dark green	White, petals wide spreading, with yellow stamens.
'Snowfall'	x hybridum	under 2 feet tall	white, continuous bloom
'Souvenir de Bonn'	x hybridum	Variegated	Orange with red veins
'Tangerine'	x hybridum	Green	Similar to 'Apricot', but with brighter orange-yellow flowers
"Tennant White'	vitifolium	Dark green	Large, white, open flowers.
'Thompsonii'	pictum	Golden mottled	Salmon-orange with dark orange veins.
'Variegatum'	megapotamicum	Heavily blotched with yellow	Yellow with a red calyx.
'Veronica Tennant'	vitifolium	Dark green	Large, pale pink, open flowers.
'Vesuvius'	x hybridum		coral and yellow petals in velvet plum calyx
'Victor Reiter'	x hybridum		large, burgundy
'Violetta'	x suntense	Green	Dark purple
'Wisley Red'	megapotamicum	Green	Red, with large, dark-red calyx.
'Yellow Orange'	x hybridum		yellow bells, crimson veins

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