Hibiscus Parade again, and again!

Hibiscus is a flower we do not get tired with. Maybe that's one of the reasons why both the scientists and the enthusiasts keep on breeding them, and never get bored trying to produce lots of variations in their results. There are those who want to produce a certain hue, while others want to produce certain shapes. But definitely, it is the novelty of whether hue, venation, size, shape or their combinations that make a certain hybrid very famous, or sought after by collectors.

Most of us have been posting Hibiscus species and most of us, altogether, still appreciate and look at them as if it is our fisrt time. But do you know that its petals can be eaten? I have a straight vegetarian friend who prepares dishes with Hibiscus petals during our annual reunions. Everybody seems to be curious and the colorful petals get consumed so fast.

This is from the Horticulture Exhibit and Annual Garden Sale i visited last February
 in Quezon City, Philippines

These are from the participating commercial nurseries at the Orchid Show at the Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City, Philippines, 24 Feb to 07 Mar 2011

These hybrids are from the collection of the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los Baños

Our native Hibiscus species (pink), which  we locally call 'gumamela' in Pilipino. We also have red, peach, yellow, white and variations in hues and petals.

Now let's go into some science of colors in plants. These bright colors of ornamental plants, commonly called pigments are carotenoids composed of carotenes (hydrocarbons without oxygen) and xantohpylls (hydrocarbons with oxygen). There are also those called anthocyanins which are red, purple, or blue according to pH. They belong to a parent class of molecules called flavonoids. Only the anthocyanins are water soluble pigments. The bright colors of ornamentals and flowers not only attract their pollinators, but also protect the young leaves from extreme light stress from photo oxidation. Senescing leaves like those in autumn get those colors because the chlorophyll (green) disappears exposing the carotenoids. Sometimes, these bright colors also deter other predators from eating them, as other brightly colored pigments are poison to some predators. This is the logic why some butterflies mimic the red color to defy their predators, somehow telling them they are not palatable or even toxic.

For humans, these pigments are now famous as antioxidants and helpful for our stressed bodies. I am sure you have been hearing the use of carotenoids as anti cancer. Antioxidants means they attach to the free-radicals in the body, which otherwise are our toxic and harmful products of metabolism. I just wonder at this point, how many kilograms of hibiscus flowers we must eat to counteract the resulting free-radicals our body produce continuously, especially resulting from pollution and stressful way of life.

I would like to dedicate this post to my Malaysian blogger friends because their national flower is the red Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. In order of my knowing them they are: Autumn Belle,  Stephanie, Bangchik, Aaron, James Missier, One and Orchid de Dangau.

For other Fabulous Friday posts please visit mcdougall photography site.