HIBISCUS CANNABINUS, Unn: 



[Vide riate XXII.] 



English, roselle hemp; Vernacular, patsan, pitwa, san, lattia san, ambari, (South India.) 



Natural order Malvacece, tribe Hihiscece. Annual or perennial. Stems 2-3 ft. high, terete, 

 glabrous, but more or less prickly. Leaves alternate, on long prickly petioles, dark green above, 

 paler beneath ; lower ovate cordate, entire or serrate ; upper deeply 3-5-palmately lobed ; lobes nar- 

 row, lanceolate, serrate ; stipules subulate. Flowers axillary, nearly sessile ; bracteoles 7, sepal-like, 

 subulate, shorter than the calyx, rough with bulbous-based bristles. Calyx bristly, glandular ; 

 sepals connate. Corolla large, bright yellow with a crimson centre; petals 5, connate below with 

 the staminal tube. Stamens monadelphous; anthers reniform, 1-celled. Ovary 5-celled. Capsule 

 globose, pointed, bristly, opening through the back of each cell (loculicidally). Seeds almost 

 glabrous. 



Patsan is one of the numerous family to which the ornamental hibiscus, the bombax 

 or silk cotton tree, the cotton plant, and the Ihindi belong, and possesses in the shape of 

 its stem-leaves a passing resemblance to the true hemp. It yields a fibre which is softer, 

 whiter, and silkier than that of the sanai, but on the other hand of much less strength, 

 and which, therefore, commands a considerably lower price in the market. Its fibre is 

 not so much esteemed as that of sanai for well ropes and coarse cordage, but is perhaps 

 the best fitted of the two for the making of coarse cloth or sacking. It is also in request 

 as a material for the thin ropes idol), which are used for drawing water for drinking 

 purposes. Its young foliage is eaten as a vegetable, and its seeds when roasted are an 

 article of food like those of its near relative the hhindi, Hibiscus (or Jbehioschus) escucentus. 

 It is reported that in the Meerut District a use is found for its dry stalks as matches, 

 they being split and tipped with a preparation of sulphur. 



No details whatever are available of the area under patsan, but it is believed to be 

 grown on a much smaller scale than sanai. It is very rarely cultivated as a sole crop, 

 and most commonly occurs as a border to fields of sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo. The 

 best patsan in the Cawnpore market is imported from the Meerut division and the 

 Northern Districts of Oudh, and it is probable, therefore, that these are the localities in 

 which its production is largest. In ordinary Doab Districts it is only met with as a sparse 

 bordering to some kharif fields, and is merely grown for the domestic use of the 

 cultivator. 



Its cultivation will necessarily be similar to that of the crop with which it is 

 associated, and thus it will be sown in February if as a border to sugar-cane. May if a 

 border to jamowa indigo, and July if a border to cotton. When ripe the plants are cut 

 down close to the ground or are pulled up by the roots. It is important that none of 

 the lower part of the stem be lost since this contains the best fibre. The stalks are 

 then kept submerged in water for a period varying from 6 to 10 days according to the 



* References:— Hook. Fl. Ind. i, 339; Roxb. Fl. Ind, iii. 208; W. & A. Prod, i. 50; Powell Punj. Prod, 504; Drury 

 Useful PI. of Ind. 243. 



