edible Hibiscus

Are all Hibiscus edible?

You can make a tea from the red variety flowers. In Mexico it's called jamaica {pron. ha my ka). It's delicious a cross between tea and kool aid. There's a restaurant in Austin that serves it using honey instead of sugar, though I personally prefer sugar.

You need to be careful because my understanding is not all red varieties are used to make the tea.

This message was edited May 3, 2007 12:21 PM

I agree, a specific type of hybiscus is used for making the tea. Found this online:

"Jamaican Tea Hibiscus Hibiscus sabdariffa Family Malvaceae This is a large shrub with green lobed leaves and yellow flowers. The leaves have bright red petioles, but it is the enlarged red calyxes (enlargened sepal cluster at the flower base) that give the plant the common name 'Florida cranberry'. Both the flowers and calyces may be used to make a pleasant acidic tea. The plant thrives in a sunny location with rich, moist, but well-drained soil. It will not tolerate any frost. The tropical requirements of the plant plus the late fall bloom period make it a fun plant to grow in Austin, Texas, but not one that is very practical to use for harvesting large amounts of tea supplies. Use Jamaican Tea Hibiscus alone, combined with mints or in fruit juice punches. Jamaican Tea Hibiscus is also called Roselle or Jamaica."

k, I stand corrected. It's a really super drink anyway.

Here in Florida....the ladies in my church who are fron Jamaica, call it Roselle Sorelle Hibiscus....it took me quite a while to find out what they actually had growing in their yards and were making tea out of. It's not the normal hibiscus, has thorny stems.....and makes BRIGHT red tea.....Kind of lemony/gingery/tart/sweet......but delicious!

I know that in Mexico you can buy it already bagged. I don't know about any stores here.

You should be able to get it in any mexican market. We can also purchase it from vendors at the swap meets here.

Does this mean all the other Hibiscus aren't edibles?