Dombeya wallichii
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{For|pink ball cricket|Day/night cricket}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Dombeya wallichii2.jpg
|image_caption = Inflorescence
|genus = Dombeya
|species = wallichii
|authority = (Lindl.) Benth. ex Baill. (1885)
|synonyms =
- Assonia wallichii {{small|(Lindl.) Kuntze (1891)}}
- Astrapaea penduliflora {{small|DC. (1828)}}
- Astrapaea speciosa {{small|F.Dietr. (1825)}}
- Astrapaea wallichii {{small|Lindl. (1821)}}
- Dombeya penduliflora {{small|(DC.) M.Gómez (1890)}}
- Dombeya speciosa {{small|A.Dietr. ex Salomon (1880), nom. superfl.}}
|synonyms_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:823281-1 Dombeya wallichii (Lindl.) Benth. ex Baill.] Plants of the World Online, Kew Science. Accessed 26 June 2023.
}}
Dombeya wallichii is a flowering shrub of the family Malvaceae known by the common names pinkball, pink ball tree, and tropical hydrangea.Carter, K. [http://ucanr.org/sites/UrbanHort/files/80193.pdf Tropical Hydrangea: Dombeya wallichi.] Center for Landscape and Urban Horticulture. University of California Cooperative Extension, Central Coast & South Region.
Description
The plant can grow 20Gilman, E. F. and D. G. Watson. [http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st232 Dombeya wallichii: Pinkball.] Document ENH391. Environmental Horticulture, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published 1993. Revised 2006. to 30 feet tall and has a spread of up to 25 feet. The alternately arranged leaves are heart-shaped with serrated edges. The hanging flower clusters are pink, showy, and fragrant.
Range and habitat
It is native to eastern Madagascar. Its natural distribution isn't well understood, but wild specimens were collected from two coastal streamside locations on the eastern coast of Madagascar – at Antalaha on the northeastern coast, and at Mandena on the southeastern coast.Skema, C. (2014). Reevaluation of Species Delimitations in Dombeya Section Hilsenbergia (Dombeyaceae). Systematic Botany, 39(2), 541–562. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24546163
It has been introduced by humans to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Marianas, Mauritius, southwestern Mexico, Réunion, Japan, and the Windward Islands, where it has naturalized.
Cultivation
Dombeya wallichii is grown widely as a garden plant.
This species can be crossed with Dombeya burgessiae to produce the hybrid Dombeya × cayeuxii.
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q615818}}
Category:Endemic flora of Madagascar
Category:Flora of the Madagascar lowland forests
Category:Plants described in 1821
Category:Taxa named by John Lindley
Category:Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon
{{Malvaceae-stub}}