Taxon: Hibiscus sabdariffa L.

• conserved (nom. cons.) with a conserved type (Melbourne ICN Art. 14.9 & App. IV)
• review history of nomenclature proposal concerning this name from the Smithsonian Institution's database

See also subordinate taxa:

• Hibiscus sabdariffa var. altissimus (3 accessions)

Common names:

• Indian-sorrel   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 8:178.) – English
  
• Jamaica-sorrel   (Source: Baileya 13:84. 1965) – English
  
• red-sorrel   (Source: Dict Gard ) – English
  
• roselle   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• sorrel   (Source: Dict Gard ) – English
  
• oseille de Guinée   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• Malventee   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• Rosella   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• carurú-de-Guiné   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• quiabo-azedo   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• quiabo-de-Angola   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• quiabo-róseo   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• quiabo-roxo   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• rosela   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• vinagreira   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• acedera de Guinea   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• rosa de Jamaica   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• serení   (Source: Dict Gard ) – Spanish
  
• rosellhibiskus   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Food additives: flavoring   (fide F Guat; Ency CNatIn)
  
• Human food: beverage base   (fide Pl Res SEAS 8:178. 1993)
  
• Human food: vegetable   (fide Pl Res SEAS 8:178. 1993)
  
• Materials: fiber   (mainly import. in SEAsia fide Pl Res SEAs 8:178. 1993)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2)
  
• Weed: potential seed contaminant   (fide F Guat)
  

More:

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• widely cultivated

• probable origin tropical Africa

References:

• PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
• Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
• Bates, D. M. 1965. Notes on the cultivated Malvaceae. 1. Hibiscus. Baileya 13:84–85.
• Borssum Waalkes, J. v. 1966. Malesian Malvaceae revised. Blumea 14:64–65.
• Brummitt, R. K. 2002. Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 53. Taxon 51:798. [proposal recommended].
• Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959–. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
• Craven, L. A. et al. 2003. A taxonomic review of Hibiscus section Furcaria (Malvaceae) in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Austral. Syst. Bot. 16:209–212.
• Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
• Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage.
• Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca.
• Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Fryxell, P. A. 2001. (1492) Proposal to conserve the name Hibiscus sabdariffa (Malvaceae) with a conserved type. Taxon 50:929–931.
• Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
• Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening.
• Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2.
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
• Magness, J. R. et al. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1. [limited production].
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2.
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
• McVaugh, R. 1983–. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
• Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rakshit, S. C. & B. C. Kundu. 1972. Revision of the Indian species of Hibiscus. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 12:162–164.
• Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics.
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993–. Flora of India.
• Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 8:178.
• Smith, A. C. 1979–1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
• Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946–1976. Flora of Guatemala.
• Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986–. European garden flora.
• Wilson, F. D. & M. Y. Menzel. 1964. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). Econ. Bot. 18:80–91.
• Wilson, F. D. 1999. Revision of Hibiscus section Furcaria (Malvaceae) in Africa and Asia. Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London, Bot. 29:65–66.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Hibiscus sabdariffa.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Hibiscus sabdariffa.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Hibiscus sabdariffa.

Check other web resources for Hibiscus sabdariffa L.:

• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• PROTABASE: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa's (PROTA's) online resource
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

• Seeds: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

Ctrl P to print