LKOC highlights the native Hawaiian Hibiscus

The Lani-Kailua Branch Annual meeting, held at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens, was highlighted by a talk on the historical significance of hibiscus in Hawaii. The featured speaker was Jill Coryell, the "Hibiscus Lady," who has devoted the last few decades to researching and continuing the hybridization of native hibiscus in Hawaii, since early in the last century. Her fascinating, informative, and entertaining lecture gave us all a unique perspective on the hibiscus, incidentally depicted in our original Outdoor Circle logo, and how most  hybrid hibiscus everywhere are descendants of the Native Hawaiian hibiscus. Note also that the Hawaiian native white hibiscus is the only one in the the world with fragrance, and is the ancestor of all hybrid hibiscus with fragrance! Jill demonstrated how we could hybridize our own hibiscus in our own back yards, for color, fragrance and other features, and brought numerous examples of her unique specimens.

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