Lagunaria patersonia

Norfolk island hibiscus, cow itch tree, Cow Itch Tree

Family: Malvaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Norfolk island hibiscus is a naturalized shrub found in southern California coastal regions in coastal riparian forest at elevations below 10 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces showy pink to rose-pink flowers that fade to white, with blossoms 3.5 to 8 centimeters in diameter. Growing as an evergreen shrub or small tree 2 to 10 meters tall, it has smooth gray bark and twigs covered in stellate hairs. Its leathery olive-green leaves are 5 to 10 centimeters long, ovate in shape, with dense felty-stellate hairs on the undersides. The fruit is a brown capsule approximately 4 centimeters long, filled with irritant hairs and containing orange to red seeds.

Habitat: Coastal riparian forest

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 10 m

Bioregions: SCo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.