A small, much-branched tree. Young shoots and inflorescence pubescent. Bark grey, inner-bark fibrous. Wood soft,
grey, heartwood purplish. Leaves entire from a cordate base, nearly orbicular, shortly grey-pubescent ; blade 3-8 in. diam. Petiole 1-5 in. long. Stipules broad, early deciduous. Flowers in axillary or terminal few-fid racemes. Bracteoles 10, connate, half the length of the Calyx. Corolla 2-3 in. diam., pale yellow, with a crimson centre, red in the evening. Staminal-tube 1½ in., antheriferous all the way down. Capsule 10-celled, ovoid, pointed
above, 5-valved. Seeds slightly pilose, reniform.
Parts used :— The bark and root.
Use :— The bark is used in medicine (Watt). The root is said by Irvine in his Materia Medica of Patna to be febrifuge, and employed in the preparation of embrocations.
169.H. Rosa-Sinensis, Linn., h.f.b.l, I, 344. Roxb. 523.
Sans. : — Japâ.
Vern. : — Joba, juva, oru (B). ; Jasoon or jasund (H. and Dec); shappathup-pu, (Tam.) ; java-push-pamu (Tel.) ; Dâsvâlada- huvvu (Can.) ; jâsût-nû-phûl (Guz) ; Jâsvan (Mar).
Pers. : — Angharee-hind.
Habitat: — Cultivated in gardens throughout India. I have seen 12 varieties in the Bombay gardens with cream-coloured, fawn-coloured, white and scarlet-blotched, pink, deep crimson, scarlet, with double and single-petalled flowers. It serves as a good roadside plant in Bombay. K. R. K.
A shrubby perennial plant, cultivated in gardens. Stems woody, branched, not prickly. Leaves entire at base, coarsely toothed at apex, nearly glabrous, ovate, acuminate. Stipules ensiform. Bracteoles 6-7, linear, half the length of the bell-shaped Calyx. Peduncles axillary, solitary, as long as or longer than the adjoining leaf. Sepals f in. ; lanceolate, connate below the middle. Corolla 3 in. diam., variously coloured with a deep purple or black blotch inside, near insertion or base of petals. Staminal- tube exceeding Corolla. Capsule roundish, many-seeded.