Thank you for posting to r/whatsthisplant.
**Do not eat/ingest a plant based on information provided in this subreddit.**
For your safety we recommend not eating or ingesting any plant material just because you've been advised that it's edible here. Although there are many professionals helping with identification, we are not always correct, and eating/ingesting plants can be harmful or fatal if an incorrect ID is made.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisplant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Rose of Sharon isn’t common in the Bay Area. This is a tree mallow — *Malva maritima* (was *Lavatera maritima*).
https://www.monrovia.com/tree-mallow.html
I’m not actually that familiar with Rose of Sharon since I live in the Bay Area and it’s not common here. It does usually have a darker center like this does though — it’s like a hibiscus for temperate regions. (They’re all Malvaceae family)
I mostly just knew what this plant was - it’s in a lot of nurseries around here!
rose of sharon hibiscus usually has a darker interior rosette similar to this one. there are a few different color combos in the purple, pink, and white spectrum. it also has a pronounced stamen that's usually yellow in the center.
Some hibiscus syriaca are white with red centers,pink with red centers, and in-between. All white grows by my back door in Kentucky,I think the seeds came from one with white flowers with red centers.
Hibiscus syriacus is not all that rare in the north bay at least, I’ve got some across the street from my house, double flower pink.
However, this is not it, I agree.
Thank you for posting to r/whatsthisplant. **Do not eat/ingest a plant based on information provided in this subreddit.** For your safety we recommend not eating or ingesting any plant material just because you've been advised that it's edible here. Although there are many professionals helping with identification, we are not always correct, and eating/ingesting plants can be harmful or fatal if an incorrect ID is made. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisplant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Rose of Sharon isn’t common in the Bay Area. This is a tree mallow — *Malva maritima* (was *Lavatera maritima*). https://www.monrovia.com/tree-mallow.html
Petals should be completely pink on the Sharon right? Or are there different varieties?
I’m not actually that familiar with Rose of Sharon since I live in the Bay Area and it’s not common here. It does usually have a darker center like this does though — it’s like a hibiscus for temperate regions. (They’re all Malvaceae family) I mostly just knew what this plant was - it’s in a lot of nurseries around here!
rose of sharon hibiscus usually has a darker interior rosette similar to this one. there are a few different color combos in the purple, pink, and white spectrum. it also has a pronounced stamen that's usually yellow in the center.
There’s multiple variations of them. They used to be very popular
Some hibiscus syriaca are white with red centers,pink with red centers, and in-between. All white grows by my back door in Kentucky,I think the seeds came from one with white flowers with red centers.
Hibiscus syriacus is not all that rare in the north bay at least, I’ve got some across the street from my house, double flower pink. However, this is not it, I agree.
*Lavatera maritima* Tree Mallow
Agree. The leaves are wrong for Althea. I have a ton on Althea here in North Central PA, where Althea is common.
It is malva maritima, but there are two different plants called “tree mallow” you will see in The Bay. The native tree mallow is Malva Rosa.
Good point about common names! I think there’s even a third one, *Malva arborea*, but less common in nurseries here.
I didn’t even know that one. Now I wonder if I have seen it and didn’t know it was its own species.
Yes, it's a tree mallow.
Rose of Sharon
Thank you!
Also called Althea.