Hibiscus/ White Hibiscus

Variant names
Common name: Hibiscus.
Scientific name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.
Malay name: Bunga Raya, Kembang Sepatu, Bebaru, Bunga Pepulut (Malaysia), Pucuk (Indonesia).
Chinese name: Zhu Jin, Fu Sang, Da Hong Hua (Mandarin).
Other common names: Shoe flower.

      Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), a tropical flower, belongs to the family Malvaceae. It gets its name from the Greek words Hibiscus meaning "mallow" and rosa-sinensis meaning "rose of China". In Singapore, the plant is found in the wild but is often cultivated for purposes such as an environmental alternative to road dividers. Locals call the flower bunga raya or "flower of celebration".

Origins and Distribution

       The exact origin of the plant Hibiscus rosa -sinensis is unknown. Though it has been in cultivation in China, Japan and the Pacific islands for an equally long time, it is generally thought to have originated in South China. The plant with deep-red flowers is believed to have an Asian origin, hence the name rosa-sinensis meaning 'rose of China'. However, two white-flowered hibiscus species, namely Hibiscus arnottianus and Hibiscus waimeae are believed to be native to Hawaii. There are around 300 related species of hibiscus found in the tropics throughout the world. One species, Hibiscus tiliaceus or the Sea Hibiscus, is commonly found in Singapore. Over a thousand hybrid varieties have been obtained and propagated for either a selected purpose or for simply ornamental value. Hibiscus shrubs, made to grow into trees between 2 - 3 m tall, are used in Singapore as road dividers. Hybrid hibiscus flowers are today available in pink, yellow, orange, purple, lavender or in multicolour forms. Hibiscus rosa sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia.

Description

Tree: It is a small tree, an evergreen shrub, growing to a maximum of 10 m in the wilds. Bark is light-grey, easily peelable and smooth.

Leaves: The leaves are ovate, simple, spirally arranged, 8 to 10.5 cm long and have a long stalk. 

Flowers: They are single, bisexual, have a stalk, arise from upper leaf axils and grow up to 25 cm in width. The five free petals joined at the base may be white, yellow or red in nature. Sepals are joined in a five-lobed cup with an epicalyx of five to seven lobes. Superior ovary has five stigmas with a long style. The plants flower perennially.

Fruits: The ovoid fruits have up to 20 seeds, are beaked and split into five parts.

Usage and potential

Food

       Hibiscus flowers are used by Malays as a food dye in colouring toddy, agar-agar jellies, pineapple slices and cooked vegetables. A juice-drink made of hibiscus flowers was developed and is marketed together by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Universiti Malaya and the Trengganu government.

Medicine

       A decoction of hibiscus roots was offered, in Malay traditional healing, for the relief of venereal diseases and fever. The white and red flowers, made into a decoction, was drunk as an antidote to poison. The juice of white coloured flowers was given to those suffering from seriawan, an ailment symptomatically similar to trush, sprue or diphteria. An infusion of the flowers was used as an expectorant in bronchitis, and after it was left overnight exposed to dew, it was used to treat gonorrhoea. Leaves were applied to boils and as poultices to provide relief from headaches and swellings. A preparation from the roots was used as eye-drops for sore eyes. In the Philippines the flower buds, made into pulp, was applied to boils, mumps and swollen cancerous areas. The Dutch used the red flowers with papaya seeds to initiate an abortion of a foetus. Dutch midwives used the mucilage in labour and also gave draughts made of the juice of hibiscus leaves to women in labour. 

Other uses

      The juice of the hibiscus petals and flowers was used as a dye by the Chinese and Indians to blacken the eyebrows and hair. This usage was passed on to the Arabs and the Portuguese. Malays used the flowers in exorcism for epidemics and diseases. In Jamaica, it was used to polish shoes, hence the name, shoe flower. Hibiscus flowers are worn by women in the Pacific islands to show their status of being single.