Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis) is a plant species in Malvaceae, annual shrub, crawling on the surface or climbing, up to 3 meters long, thorny stems, green leaves, yellow trumpet flowers, grows wild in forests and canal edges, widely used for vegetables and treatment.

H. surattensis has stems with spines and hairs, branching and reddish green. Petiole emerges from the stem with a straight edge to the side, up to 11 cm long, sturdy, thorny, hairy and reddish green.

The leaves have a length of 10 cm, width of 10 cm, 3-5 lobed, each has a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, sharp tip, sharp and jagged edges, wavy, stiff, green surface.

Flowers up to 10 cm long, trumpet-shaped, yellow with a purple or brown or red center, solitary, axillary. Epicalyx has forked bracts, linear inner branches, spathulate outer branches. Stalks up to 6-7 cm. The seeds have a length of 3-3.5 mm and a width of 2.5 mm.

Bush sorrels grow in pastures, marshes, abandoned fields and plantations, waste land near residences, coastal habitats such as dunes, various types of land in the lowlands to an altitude of 1,700 m and annual rainfall of 1000-1600 mm.

Slimy leaves are used as vegetables or eaten raw as a salad, sauce thickener and seasonings. Tonic for the heart and stomach, treating boils, eye diseases, dysentery, urethritis, gonorrhea, sores and itching. Leaf sap prevents miscarriage and treat vertigo. The root is used as a laxative.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Tribe: Hibisceae
Genus: Hibiscus
Species: Hibiscus surattensis
Varieties: Hibiscus surattensis var. genuinus, Hibiscus surattensis var. villosus

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