Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Hibiscus cannabinus - Vegetable kenaf, Indian hemp

Edible parts - Leaves, Seeds, Pods, Fruit, Flowers, Seeds - oil, Bark, Gum, Vegetable

A herb. It can grow from seed each year or keep growing from year to year. It grows up to 3.5 m high. It has a few sharp spines. The leaf stalk is 6-20 cm long. The leaf blade has 2 forms. The leaves lower on the stem are heart shaped and those higher on the stem have 4-7 lobes arranged like fingers on a hand. These lobes are sword shaped and 2-12 cm long by 0.6-2 cm wide. They have teeth around the edge. They taper at the tip. The flowers are yellow, white or ivory and red at the base. They occur singly in the axils of leaves. They are large and up to 10 cm across. They have very short stalks. The fruit is a capsule
about 1.5 cm across. The seeds are kidney shaped.

A tropical plant. It is cultivated in S China. It can grow in well-drained sandy soils and in dry but seasonally waterlogged places. It grows between 15-2,130 m above sea level. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 500-635 mm. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.