Anthocyanin Pigmentation Patternings in Petals of Hibiscus syriacus

Petals of Hibiscus syriacus are characterized by the various colored main part ‘body’ and an intense red to mauve ‘eye’ in the base of each petal. The concentrations of each anthocyanin varied greatly in the body part by the colors of the petals, while the predominant pigments were the cyanidin 3-glucoside and 3-malonylglucoside in the eye regions of all examined culivars. These pigmentation patternings were further investigated in several flowering stages; the anthocyanin pathways were distinctly different in the two regions of the same petals. Aliphatic acylation was the last step in the pathways of anthocyanin synthesis.