HIBISCUS, a genus of plants of the natural order malcaeece, the type of a tribe or suborder distinguished by a double calyx and fruit of three or more many-seeded carpels united into a many-celled capsule. The species are numerous, natives of warm climates. some of them trees or shrubs, but most of them large herbaceous plants, annual or perennial. The flowers of many are very beautiful. H. sy? iaeus, sometimes called altheca frutex, a native of Syria and earniola, has long been in cultivation as an orna mental shrub, and proves sufficiently hardy in many parts of Britain. Some are favor ite hothouse plants. The characteristic mucilaginous and fibrous properties of the nwlvacece are very strongly developed in this tribe. If. ahelmoschus (or abelmosc1tn eseu lentus) so abounds in mucilage that it is much used in the n.w. of India for clarifying sugar. The fruit of H. esculentas (or alielmoschus esculentus) is in general use both in the East and West Indies for thickening soups, and otherwise as an article of food. It is called GOMBO, Gonno, and OCIIII0 in the West Indies; BANDIKAI, RAM-TURAI, and DENROOS in different parts of India; and BAMMIA in the iv. of Africa; if indeed the East Indian H. longifolius and the African IL bammia are, as seems probable, mere varieties. It is an annual plant, with a soft herbaceous stem, 3 to 5 ft. high, crenate leaves, axillary sulphur-colored flowers, and pyramidal, somewhat godlike capsules. It is cultivated in some parts of the s. of Europe. The fruit is used in an unripe state. It is generally much esteemed, but is disliked by some on account of its viscidity. It enters, as an important ingredient, into the pepper-pot of the West Indies. The ripe seeds are sometimes used in soups as barley. The bark of IL tiliaceus—n tree of 20 ft. high, with a very thick bole—so abounds in mucilage that by chewing it the natives of the South Sea islands obtain nourishment in times of scarcity. This tree, the Bomi of Bengal—supposed to be the same with the Mono or Mon.kurr of the West Indies (H.
arb;retts)—is one of the most abundant trees of the South Sea islands; and the wood, being light, tough, and durable, is much used for many purposes. The bark is very fibrous, and cordage and matting are made of the fiber in various tropical countries. Many other species yield fibers, sonic of them coarse, some of them flue and beautiful, which are used in different countries; hut the most important in this respect is H. can nabinu3, the AMBARRE HEMP and DECKANEE HEMP of western India, called Ritt•Ncoo at Madras, and MAESTA PAUT in Bengal; a plant very generally cultivated in all parts of India, although nowhere to a great'extent. It is an annual herbaceous plant, having a straight unbranehing stein, to 7 ft. high. The fiber is not so strong us hemp, and is useful only for ropes and coarse fabrics. It has been suggested that many species of hibiscus might be found valuable for the manufacture of paper. sabdariffa is very generally cultivated in warm countries, on account of its calyx, which, as the fruit ripens, becomes fleshy, and acquires a very pleasant acidity. It is much used for making tarts and jelly, and a decoction of it, sweetened and fermented, affords a refreshing beverage, well known in the West Indies as sorrel cool drink, the plant being called RED SORREL IL abelmoschus (or abelmoschus moschatus), sometimes called MUSIC-SEED, another plant common in widely separated tropical countries, is cultivated for its seeds, which have a fragrance between that of musk and that of amber. They are much used by perfumers, and are called ambrette or grainer d'ambrette. In Egypt and Arabia they are mixed with coffee, and stimulant and stomachic qualities arc ascribed to them. The petals of H. rosa-sinensis are astringent, and are used by the Chinese to stain their eve brows and their shoes black.