Edible Hibiscus / Aibika / South Seas Salad Tree / Bele - Abelmoschus manihot - 2 varieties

A shrubby edible perennial hibiscus species with as many common names as leaf forms is an excellent addition to a more full sun part of a food forest. A hibiscus family member, this species bears large yellow hibiscus like flowers as the days get shorter in the fall and winter.

Edible both cooked and raw, the Kubos Prize variety had deeply lobed maple like leaves, is good in a mixed salad and the wide leaf Aunt Lillies variety is great as a leaf wrap. 

The one downside to this species is as a hibiscus family member, root knot nematodes will sometimes effect the plants- we suggest rich, well amended sites with deep mulch and occasional additions of crab meal to reduce nematode levels. Also after a few years the plants will get very leggy and sprawl so our preference is to make hardwood stem cuttings in the fall each year to replant new ones in the spring - new plants seem to make better vegetative growth so are much more productive as a vegetable and your cuttings can be grown in a protected area and act as an "insurance policy" in case of freeze damage on your main plants.