It is usually considered to be limited to Zones 9-1. It is the state flower of Hawaii, and the national flower of Malaysia. Recently, many hybrid polyploid plants with multicolor or double blooms have been developed. The flower structure of the mallows is pretty consistant, being 5 petals with a long, tubular combination stamen and pistil. The seed pods are always chambered, with large seeds.
All mallows are somewhat mucilaginous, i.e., slimey.
Okra, source of file powder, the proper thickener for gumbo, is a mallow. Some of the red in Red Zinger Tea, a popular herbal tea in the 70's, was red hibiscus flowers. Tropical hibuscus are listed as food sources for desert tortoises by the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. Pot culture of Tropical Hibiscus Tropical Hibiscus may not be grown outside anywhere that experiences hard frosts, although light frost may be survived if the plant is cut back to the ground and heavily mulched. However, hibiscus may be grown in pots and moved indoors for the winter.