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Hibiscus sabdariffa
Malvaceae FAMILY

Hibiscus sabdariffa

Hibiscus sabdariffa

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The oil might contain toxic substances[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
Growth—

Roselle is best suited to lowland, humid, tropical climates, where it is found from sea-level to elevations of about 600 metres[2]. It grows best in areas with a well-distributed annual rainfall of 1,500 - 2,000 mm, though it can tolerate an annual rainfall of 640 - 4,290mm, and an annual temperature in the range of 12.5 - 27.5°c[2].] It tolerates a warmer and more humid climate than the related kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), but is more susceptible to damage from frost and fog[2]. Prefers a well-drained humus rich fertile soil in full sun[3]. For best yields, roselle requires a permeable soil, a friable sandy loam with humus being preferable; however, it will adapt to a variety of soils[2]. It is not shade tolerant and must be kept weed-free[2]. It will tolerate floods, heavy winds or stagnant water[2]. Prefers a pH in the range of 4.5 to 8.0[2]. Because of their deep root system, plants can tolerate some drought[1]. Plants are sensitive to the length of daylight and do not flower if there are more than 13 hours of light in the day[4]. Plants exhibit marked photoperiodism, not flowering at shortening days of 13.5 hours, but flowering at 11 hours. In the United States plants do not flower until short days of late fall or early winter. Since flowering is not necessary for fibre production, long light days for 3 - 4 months is the critical factor[2]. Harvesting can begin about 3 - 5 months after sowing the seed[5]. Yields of 10 tonnes per hectare of leaves can be obtained and 8 tonnes of calyces[5]. There are two main varieties of the plant:- Hibiscus sabdariffa sabdariffa has long branches and usually grows up to 1.5 metres tall. It produces red or pale yellow inflated edible fleshy calyces but a poor quality fibre[2, 6, 7]. Hibiscus sabdariffa altissima is unbranched or has short branches and can be up to 4.5 metres tall. The fibre is of good quality but the calyces are leathery and inedible[2, 6, 7]. Each variety has various cultivars. The best known of the edible forms arre: 'Victor', 'Rico' and 'Archer'[6]. There is also a green form known as the white sorrel, with greenish-white fruits[6]. Plants have a deep penetrating taproot[2]. Plants are resistant to root-knot nematodes[8]. Hybridizes in the wild with Hibiscus cannabinus[6].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a warm greenhouse. Germination is usually fairly rapid. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. If growing them as annuals, plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer and protect them with a frame or cloche until they are growing away well. If hoping to grow them as perennials, then it is better to grow them on in the greenhouse for their first year and to plant them out in early summer of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame. Overwinter them in a warm greenhouse and plant out after the last expected frosts. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Hibiscus+sabdariffa>

Pollinators

Insects, Self

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]Handbook of Energy Crops — Duke. J. · - · 1983 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html · ISBN - ↩︎Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  5. [5]Vegetables in the Tropics — Tindall. H. D. · MacMillan, Oxford. · 1983 · ISBN 0-333-24268-8 ↩︎An excellent, in-depth look at the main vegetable crops that can be grown in the Tropics, plus many less well-known plants.
  6. [6]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  7. [7]Revision of Hibiscus section Furcaria (Malvaceae) in Africa and Asia — Wilson F.D. · 1999 ↩︎
  8. [8]Edible Leaves of the Tropics — Martin. F. W.; Ruberte. R. M. & Meitzner. L. S. · Echo. USA. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9653360-1-8 ↩︎A terse guide, giving reasonable detail on the more common leaf crops and brief information on a wide range of lesser known plants.
  9. [9]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  10. [10]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  11. [11]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  12. [12]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  13. [13]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  14. [14]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
  15. [15]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  16. [16]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  17. [17]Wild Food in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · Fontana · 1976 · ISBN 0-00-634436-4 ↩︎A very good pocket guide.
  18. [18]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.