ALAS DOCE
HIBISCUS CANNABINUS Linn.
Local names: Alas doce (Sp., Tag.); brown Indian hemp (Engl.).
Alas doce is occasionally planted for ornamental purposes but is scarcely naturalized. It has been found only in Bontoc and Pangasinan Provinces, and in Manila. It is a native of the Old World and is pantropic in cultivation.
This is a herb with smooth and prickly stems. The lower leaves are entire and heart-shaped and the upper ones are deeply palmately-lobed. The sepals are bristly, lanceolate, and connate below the middle, with a gland at the back of each leaves. The corolla is large, spreading and yellow with a crimson center. The capsules are rounded and bristly. The seeds are nearly smooth.