Hibiscus Species, Sun Hibiscus, Wild Stock-Rose, Lemon Yellow Rose Mallow

Lemon Yellow Rosemallow (Hibiscus calyphyllus) is native to tropical Central, East and southern Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarene Isla...Read Morends. It also can be found in South Africa and Yemen. It is a cultivated ornamental in other areas of the tropics and subtropics. It has naturalized in Hawaii. The natural habitat of Hibiscus calyphyllus is open bush, thickets and forests and it is often found along rivers. It grows to 1-1.8 meters (3-6 feet) tall and is often prostrate and straggly. I tie my plant's stems onto bamboo stakes to give it a more upright appearance. The light green leaves are obscurely to distinctly three to five lobed. The 8-10 cm (3-4 in) wide flowers are bright sulphur yellow with a deep maroon eye. It can be planted in full sun; however, my plant does better in morning sun and afternoon shade or filtered light shade. It needs a moderate amount of water on a regular basis.

Especially in East Africa, the leaves of Hibiscus calyphyllus are eaten as a vegetable. During the rainy season, they are collected from the wild, wilted, chopped and boiled mixed with other coarse vegetables. In Kenya, elephants forage on the leaves. In Uganda poles made from the stems are used for building by the Karamajong people and it is used in the construction of huts by the Maasai people. This plant is also a food source in the Okavango Delta. The flowers are cooked and eaten when there is a shortage of food. In Uganda and Tanzania, the bast fiber (skin fiber, the "inner bark") is made into rope. In DR Congo the leaves are used in a mixture with several other plant species to prepare a cure for ganglions in domestic animals. In Kenya and Tanzania the leaves are used as a dressing applied to wounds. The vapour of boiled roots is inhaled and the decoction drunk to treat pneumonia. Hibiscus calyphyllus is cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental.

My plant is growing in a container and I place it in a greenhouse during really cold winters.