A New Lanky Hibiscus Cultivar Suitable for Street Growing “Woori”

Abstract

“Woori” is a new Hibiscus cultivar developed by Korea Forest Research Institute in Suwon from 1993 to 2002 (Fig. 1). The cultivar was developed by selecting the largest Hibiscus individual “Jeonbuk 2” from Namwon, Province of Jeollabuk-do in 1993 and subsequent hybridization with another cultivar “Sundok”. The selected individual “Jeonbuk 2” was known to be the largest Hibiscus in Korea, having a height as tall as 6.1 m with a crown extending 6.4 m in diameter. Clear length, the most important characteristic as a street tree reached to 2.5 m in height. It has pink petalled singular flower with prominent red eye. On the other hand, the cultivar “Sundok” has a beautiful and abundant blossom with white singular flowers with prominent red eye (Fig. 2). Artificial crosses were made between the selected “Jeonbuk 2” individual and the cultivar “Sundok” either as female or male tree. A hybrid clone “Woori” was selected from of the hybrids based on their height growth and flowering characteristics. It is characterized as having high statue and long internodes. It has pink singular flowers with prominent red eye (Table 1, 2 and Fig. 2). All these characteristics make the new lanky cultivar “Woori” suitable for planting as street trees or as a landscape cultivar.