Sabdariffa gossypiifolia(Mill.) M.M.Hanes & R.L.Barrett

WFO wfo-1000082921 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Maria Janeiro
fig. a Maria Janeiro, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 192861534
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Maria Janeiro
fig. b Maria Janeiro, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182220045
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Sabarni Sarker
fig. c Sabarni Sarker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 114611376
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Meghaa
fig. d Meghaa, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 185187634
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by psubhashish
fig. e psubhashish, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 73687460
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. f Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 55524805
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. g Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 48428650
Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, photographed by tonyblake
fig. h tonyblake, CC0 1.0 / obs. 31547172

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 8 botanical countries

Regions where Sabdariffa gossypiifolia is native: Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan-South Sudan Central African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoGabonGhanaNigeriaSudan-South Sudan
Native distribution of Sabdariffa gossypiifolia, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Central African Republic CAF AFRICA
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Nigeria NGA
Sudan-South Sudan SUD

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 15 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Abelmoschus cruentus Walp.
  • Furcaria sabdariffa Ulbr.
  • Hibiscus acetosus Noronha
  • Hibiscus cruentus Bertol.
  • Hibiscus digitatus Cav.
  • Hibiscus digitatus var. kerrianus DC.
  • Hibiscus fraternus L.
  • Hibiscus gossypiifolius Mill.
  • Hibiscus masuianus De Wild. & T.Durand
  • Hibiscus palmatilobus Baill.
  • Hibiscus sabdariffa L.
  • Hibiscus sanguineus Griff.
  • Hibiscus subdariffa Rottler
  • Sabdariffa digitata (Cav.) Kostel.
  • Sabdariffa rubra Kostel.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.