Florida Nursery Plant Sheets Edible Hibiscus - Hibiscus sabdariffa or Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hibiscus are definitely edible by creatures both great and small. Hibiscus flowers are traditionally used for tea in Asia and the Nile Valley area of Africa. Many hibiscus teas are made from a different species of hibiscus, called Hibiscus sabdariffa, but Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, the ancestor of the modern, exotic hibiscus, is also frequently used for tea. Tea makers report that all parts of the hibiscus plant can be used, but that the flowers make a sweeter tea, and the leaves make a more astringent tea. Hibiscus tea was traditionally used to soothe or help a variety of ailments, from coughs and skin diseases to high blood pressure, gallbladder attacks, heart disease, and even some cancers. Whether these claims have any basis in science or fact, we have no idea.

It is known that hibiscus leaves and flowers do contain certain antioxidants, such as flavanoids, and proanthocyanidins, and have a kind of diuretic effect on at least some animals. Department of Agriculture and the American Heart Association found that hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure in adults with mildly high blood pressure! In the study, 3 cups per day of tea made from Hibiscus sabdariffa flowers over a period of 6 weeks lowered systolic blood pressure an average of 7-13 points, and diastolic blood pressure 6.4 points.