Sabdariffa diversifolia subsp. diversifolia
Common names
puarangi, native hibiscus, swamp hibiscus, prickly hibiscus
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Sprawling tangled thorny shrub bearing broad thin leaves and large dark-centred flowers forming dense thickets by streamsides and in wetlands in northern Northland. Stems with small hooks. Leaves to 100mm long and 80mm wide, with 3-5 uneven irregular teeth, on long thorny stalk. Fruit a dry hairy 20mm long capsule.
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Semi-erect, erect or prostrate, widely spreading, much branched subshrub or shrub typically forming dense intertangled thickets up to 2 × 3 m, or creeping masses. Stems stout and woody, especially near base. Young branches and leaf petioles copiously clad in numerous small, sharp, 1–2 mm conical prickles and dense, fine stellate hairs. Petioles up to 80 mm long. Leaves 50–100 × 30–80 mm, lamina ovate, orbicular to suborbicular, shallowly to deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, broadly to shallowly cordate or truncate, margins irregularly crenate–dentate to dentate–serrate, upper surface sparsely hispid hairy, undersides often densely so. Inflorescences in 5–20-flowered (sometimes more) terminal apparent racemes. Flowers 50–80 mm diameter; pedicels 1–3 mm long, prickly. Epicalyx segments 7–12, narrowly lanceolate, 8–12 mm long, shortly connate at base, hispid. Calyx 7–12 mm long, densely clad in hispid or stiff straight hyaline hairs, lobes narrowly deltoid to lanceolate, c. 10 mm long. Petals 35–40 × 50–58 mm, obovate, pale lemon–yellow, with a dark maroon base. Capsule 20 × 20 mm, ovoid, clad in long stiff hairs. Seeds 3.6–5.0 mm long, reniform to irregularly triangular, pale to dark brown or black-brown, sometimes with paler stripes, surface glabrous, smooth or irregular.
Similar taxa
A well marked species easily distinguished from other Hibiscus and Sabdariffa species cultivated or naturalised in New Zealand by the prickly stems and leaf petioles.
Distribution
Indigenous. In New Zealand this species has apparently always been restricted to the northern most extremity of the North Island (from about Reef Point and Doubtless Bay north). The largest populations known occur on the eastern side of Te Paki. However, several of these owe to their origins to deliberate plantings by conservation minded locals. Outside New Zealand this species is also known from tropical Africa, Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, many Pacific Islands and Central and South America. The majority of New Zealand plants match Sabdariffa diversifolia subsp. diversifolia.
Habitat
Coastal wetlands and streamsides. Often growing amongst raupo (Typha orientalis C.B.Presl) at the back of dune slacks or close to brackish streams. Very rarely in gumland scrub or on ultramafic rubble.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: RR, SO
Threats
This species is under severe threat from the actions of browsing animals, particularly wild cattle and horses which greedily devour it wherever they can find accessible plants. Some populations at Tokerau Beach have been eliminated by coastal housing development.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Hibiscus diversifolius Jacq. subsp. diversifolius, Hibiscus taylorii Buchanan nom. nud.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September - April (but sporadic flowering may occur at anytime of the year)
Fruiting
October to May (but fruit may be found at anytime of the year)
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are dispersed by wind, water and possibly by accidental ingestion of seed by birds (Barrett et al. 2025).
Propagation technique
Very easily grown from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. An attractive shrub, ideal for a coastal garden or sheltered situation when grown inland. Rather frost tender, in cooler areas it can be treated as a vine and grown up walls which protects it from frost. The prickly stems and petioles can be unpleasant. The creeping form reputedly from the Surville Cliffs makes an ideal ground cover. Hibiscus diversifolius can be grown around ponds and in boggy ground.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Cultivation
Periodically offered by most commercial garden centres. Plants are held by several specialist native plant nurseries. Two forms seem to be available, an erect shrub-forming plant typical of the wild New Zealand form, and another prostrate, creeping form, which came from the ultramafic rocks of the Surville Cliffs, North Cape (where it is now probably extinct).
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for February 2023 for the full story.
Chromosome number
2n = 72
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, SO
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, SO, Sp
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: SO, Sp
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Barrett, R.L.; Nobuko Yoshikawa, V.; McLay, T.G.B.; Cristina Duarte, M.; Mwachala, G.; Hanes, M.M. 2025: Reinstatement of Sabdariffa and new combinations to support a monophyletic concept of Hibiscus (Malvaceae: Hibisceae). Australian Systematic Botany 38, SB24013. doi:10.1071/SB24013
de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Norton, D.A.; Rolfe, J.R.; Sawyer, J.W.D. 2010: Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared by P.J. de Lange (1 November 2009). Description by P.J. de Lange subsequently published in de Lange et al (2010).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Sabdariffa diversifolia subsp. diversifolia Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/sabdariffa-diversifolia-subsp-diversifolia/ (Date website was queried)