Malabago
Hibiscus tiliaceus L.
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From its Filipino name, Malabago or Balibago, who would have not guessed why it was named so? Hibiscus tiliaceus flowers change from yellow to orange, then totally to red when they are near to falling off from the tree.
As of 2019, it is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. They can be commonly found in Cagayan, Camarines Sur, and Misamis. Although its natural habit is a tree, Malabago is amenable to pruning and can be grown as a hedge, commonly planted as living fencing. It has also been used to reforest eroded land, contain beach erosion, do coastal rehabilitation, as a shade tree and as a windbreak, especially along the seashore (relating it to its English name, Sea Hibiscus!).
In terms of medicinal properties, the flowers, roots, and bark of Malabago have a number of known uses. For example, leaves are wrapped around bone fractures while the fluid from young stems is used as an antiseptic for skin eruptions.
Distribution of in Hibiscus tiliaceus L. the Polytechnic University Philippines (Map created by J. Diongco).
Natural distribution of in Hibiscus tiliaceus L. the Philippines (Map created by D. Pelisan and K. Resullar).
Botanical Description of Hibiscus tiliaceus L.
These are large shrubs or evergreen trees with gray-white bark. Its leaf blade is nearly orbicular to broadly ovate, with basal veins 7 or 9, base cordate, margin entire or obscurely crenate, and apex abruptly acuminate. Inflorescence is a 1- to few-flowered racemelike cyme, terminal or axillary. The corolla is yellow with a dark purple center, campanulate with its petals obovate, yellow, stellate and puberulent abaxially. The capsule is sub globose to ovoid, obscurely beaked, densely fascicled-hirsute, with 5 valves and woody. Seeds are reniform in shape, smooth and glabrous.
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