You'll see many of these plants along the refuge's Wildlife Loop (map) on the margins of Swan Cove and Snow Goose Pool and also along the north side of the refuge's main road (lower side photo).

Two species (one may be a variety of the other--opinions vary) are common. The first (upper left photo and middle side photo), Hibiscus moscheutos, has white or pink flowers with redish-purple centers and upper leaves that are pointed and ovate; the lower leaves are often three lobed. The second (upper right photo), Hibiscus palustris, has pink flowers without the redish-purple centers. The leaves are pointed and ovate.

The flowers of both (up to about seven inches in width) appear in late July, and both plants grow to about four feet on Assateague.

Rose mallow can be distinguished from marsh mallow mainly by the leaves and the size of the flowers. The pink marsh-mallow flowers grow only to about two and a half inches in width and have no separate coloring in the center. And the marsh-mallow leaves are almost always three lobed.

In colonial times, a confection (the original marshmallow) was made from the roots of the "true" marsh mallow plant, Althaea officinalis, which is not found on Assateague. Rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) and another plant also named "marsh mallow" (Kosteletzkya virginica) - which are found on Assateague - are species of the same family (Malvaceae - cotton is also in this family).

Rose mallow is found from Massachusetts southward.

See also:
Chincoteague Natural History Association
- Would a Mallow by Any Other Name Taste So Sweet?