Skip to main content

Sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus)

Waru or sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus) is a species in the Malvaceae, a small tree, 5-15 meters high, the stem grows straighter and the crown narrower on fertile soils, while the trunk grows crooked and the crown widens on arid soil.

H. tiliaceus has leaves with long stalks. Strands circular or ovoid or heart shaped, flat edge, diameter up to 19 cm. Veins with glands at the base. The underside has gray hair. The supporting leaves are oval in shape, 2.5 cm long and leave marks at the ends of the branches.

Dlium Sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus)


Flowers solitary or in bunches with 2-5 florets. Additional petals 8-11 items, more than half attached. Petals 2.5 cm long and 5 items. Fan-shaped crown, 5-7.5 cm wide. The flowers bloom yellow in the morning, turn orange in the afternoon and turn red in the evening, before finally falling.

Fruit egg-shaped, short beak, imperfect 5 chambers and opens with 5 valves. The seeds are small and light brown. Taproot and yellowish white.

This tree has high adaptability, is tolerant of drought and flooding. Grows well in hot areas with rainfall 800-2000 mm/year. Common in sandy coasts, mangroves and riparian forests. This species grows wild in forests, agricultural land and roadsides.





The leaves contain saponins, flavonoids and polyphenols, while the roots contain saponins, flavonoids and tannins. This plant contains Cyanidin-3-glucoside as the main anthocyanin found in flowers. The leaves exhibited strong free radical scavenging activity and the highest tyrosinase inhibitory activity among 39 tropical plant species.

Light wood, quite dense, fine structure and not too hard. Bluish gray or pseudo purple or purplish brown or greenish. Tough and durable survive in the soil. Commonly used as building materials, boats, cartwheels, tool handles, carving and firewood. Bark is soaked and beaten to obtain fiber and rope for further use as the basis for making nets and bags.

Leaves for animal feed. Young leaves are used as vegetables and soy sauce fermentation process. The leaves are crushed to treat boils, hair fertilizer. Young leaves are boiled with sugar to dissolve phlegm in severe coughs. Leaf buds are used to treat dysentery and mucus in children. Root for fever medicine.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Tribe: Hibisceae
Genus: Hibiscus
Species: Hibiscus tiliaceus
Subspecies: Hibiscus tiliaceus ssp. hastatus, Hibiscus tiliaceus ssp. tiliaceus
Variety: Hibiscus tiliaceus var. elatus, Hibiscus tiliaceus var. pernambucensis

Popular Posts

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Tekijem (Cyperus cyperoides)

Tekijem ( Cyperus cyperoides ) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, annual grasses that grow in seasonal wetlands, open or shaded fields, swamps, ponds, rice fields, roadsides, open forests, secondary forests and shrubs at altitudes up to 1,800 m in the tropics. C. cyperoides has an upright, triangular shape, 20-75 cm tall from a very short rhizome and has no stolon. The lanceolate-shaped leaves are narrow and long, the tips are pointed, slippery, shiny, green and grow at the bottom and at the top of the stem. The terminal flower appears on the tip of the stem, cylindrical spiklet shaped and green. Each stem has two to seven flowers, each of which has a short or long stem that grows at the end of the stem together with the leaves. Tekijem grows solitary or in small groups at a distance. Propagating using vegetative and generative methods using seeds. At least three sub-species are Cyperus cyperoides cyperoides , Cyperus cyperoides flavus and Cyperus cyperoides pseudoflavus . Th...