This tender perennial (winters over in tropical climates, but is treated as an annual or houseplant in Pennsylvania), is a vigorous, heat-loving shrub that produces a profusion of flowers all summer long. The drooping habit of the flowers gives it the common name of Chinese lantern. Its yellow-and-green variegated foliage resembles maple leaves, but the plant is in the family of hibiscus and mallows. It will remain green if taken indoors in winter and does well in containers, but can also be grown as an annual.