Gumamela

Other names: hibiscus, shoe flower, China Rose



Description

Gumamela plant has glossy green,  oval shaped leaves.  The flowers are large with five or four petals. There are different colors of gumamela flowers such as yellow,  white,  pink, peach,  orange and and the most common color is red. The plant can grow up to 6 ft and 4-5ft wide. Gumamela is believed to have about 300 speciesabout which  are found worldwide.  Gumamela is easy to grow in tropical countries like the Philippines.  Although  gumamela flower is odorless,  it's still the most favorite cultivated  flower in the because it's springs can be found anywhere and very easy to grow.  
Gumamela as Medicinal Plant
In the  the Philippines and some parts of Southeast Asia boiled gumamela  is used as herbal tea. Gumamela is used as medicinal aid such as: expectorant, diureticnatural antibiotic and anti-inflammatory.

There are two ways of preparing gumamela herbal tea.  The first procedure is drying the leaves and boiling with right amount of water.  The other procedure and the common one is boiling the fresh leaves, flower or roots and make it as a herbal tea. There is also an ancient belief that gumamela flower extract has the power to cure "pigsa" or the infected wounds.

Common Illnesses treated by gumamela herbal tea:

• dysentery
• diarrhea
• cough
• constipation
• high blood pressure
• head ache 
• mumps
• bronchitis 

• Other Uses of Gumamela 

 I still remember my childhood days,  we used to play bubbles.  We used to mix gumamela flower extract with detergent soap to make bubbles.  The sticky extract of gumamela flower makes the formula more bubbly so it's so much fun to play. I also remember using gumamela leaves as a costume design.  I must say that I grew up with this plant.  We had a lot of its species in our backyard.  My mom used to cut the plants to flat tops and we used to dry our white laundry over that.  We used to do it after washing it with soap and before we rinse the clothes, in the Philippines,  we call it "kula" we do this to maintain clear white color of the fabric.