ABUTILON

genus of about 100 species of herbaceous plants and partly woody shrubs, of the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical and warm temperate areas. It includes several species used as houseplants and in gardens for their white to deep-orange, usually nodding, five-petaled blossoms. Abutilon megapotamicum A. hybridum, sometimes called Chinese lantern, is planted outdoors in warm regions and grown in greenhouses elsewhere. The trailing abutilon (A. megapotamicum; see photograph), often grown as a hanging plant, is noted for its nodding, yellowish-orange, closed flowers; it has a handsome variegated-leaved variety. A. pictum, a shrub reaching a height of 4.5 m (15 feet), often called parlor, or flowering, maple, is grown as a houseplant. An important fibre plant in China is A. theophrastii, called China jute; it is a field weed in the United States, where it is called velvetleaf (q.v.), or Indian mallow.