Roselle or Jamaica, the “sour patch” candy plant
Hibiscus sabdariffa
Family Malvaceae
Warm Season Crop
This plant is a tropical perennial, but so intolerant of frost that we grow it as an annual here in our region. In tropical regions this plant grows huge—to 8’ tall. In our region they are generally about 3-4’ tall in the ground. In the summer flowers start to appear, and the bloom gets heavier as fall approaches. The part used to make jamaica tea is the calyx—the red, leathery bracts that are at the base of the flowers.
Plants will grow until it gets cold and generally die back on the first cold night below freezing. The plants make a lot of seed so it is easy to save some seed for propagation the following year.
The earliest evidence of roselle in Africa dates back at least 6,000 years, and Sudan is still one of the world's top producers today. By the 16th and 17th centuries, roselle had spread to Asia and the West Indies, where it has since become naturalized in many places. Europeans brought roselle to the Caribbean, where it flourished as a food source, and it likely made its way to Florida from Jamaica in the late 1800s.
Roselle has many uses and applications that vary across cultures around the world:
Fiber
The stems are used to produce bast fiber, which was used in the 1920s in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) to make sugar sacks. In India, the woody fibrous stems are still used to make cordage.
Food
The leaves are eaten either cooked or pickled, the very young, tender leaves can be eaten raw. The most often consumed part of the plant is the calyx—this is the red, leathery part at the base of the flower that is so famously used to make jamaica tea (sometimes called carcade). Various pickles and chutneys are made all over the world involving both the leaves and the flower calyces. Leaves are added to many kinds of soups and stews. In some places the leaves are dried and crushed into powder, then stored for cooking into soups, stews and other dishes when needed. Various preserves and syrups are also made from the flower calyces.
Medicine
Roselle leaves are a source of mucilage used in pharmacy and cosmetics, and extracts are often used medicinally to treat colds, toothache, urinary tract infections, and hangovers. Leaf juice is used to treat conjunctivitis in Senegal, and leaves are applied as a poultice to treat sores and ulcers. A root decoction can also be used as a laxative.
Ornamentals
The decorative red stalks with ripe red fruits are exported to Europe where they are used in flower arrangements. The plants are sometimes just planted as an ornamental as they are gorgeous.
Tortoise Enclosures
Tortoises love to eat this plant and so they are often planted in tortoise enclosures.
GROWING
SEASON & PLANTING
Plant after all threat of frost is over and the nights are warming up. Young plants are particularly sensitive when the nights are still chilly, even if its not frost. These plants don’t like their roots cold.
This plant will grow throughout the warm season and flower more as fall approaches. Plants will continue to flower and grow until the first frost comes—these plants are very intolerant of frost and usually don’t make it through winter.
You can grow this plant in large containers very successfully.
SOIL & NUTRITION
This plant is best in amended garden soil. Feeding isn’t usually too necessary unless it is being grown in a container.
TEMPERATURE & SUN EXPOSURE
Grow in full to part sun. These plants love heat, and are only intolerant of cold nights or frost. They generally don’t make it through winter.
WATER
Water regularly, but don’t keep plants water-logged.
HARVESTING
As the flower buds develop and flower begin to open, you can start harvesting the calyces. You don’t even have to wait for the flowers to open entirely. You can also let the flowers fade and still collect the calyces as they form “fruits”.
WILDLIFE
The plant is edible to various species of animals, especially tortoises. As a mallow, the flowers are attractive to many native insects, especially many solitary bee species.
INVASIVENESS
This plant is not invasive in our region.