Gumamela Flower

As we went for a stopover at Palalong, Barili, Cebu. We saw a plant which has really showy flowers. According to the locals, it called as Gumamela Flower and is commonly known by tourists as “Hibiscus“. It is used by a lot of children as pastime to make a bubble making solution. The Gumamela Flower and leaves are crushed until the “duga (sticky juices)” comes out. A hollow papaya stalk is then dipped inside the mixed solution and it used like a straw for blowing to make the bubbles.

Dried Gumamela Flower is edible, and is often a delicacy in Mexico. The red Hibiscus is traditionally worn by Tahitian and Hawaiian women they usually tucked a single flower behind the ear. When worn in the ear, it indicates that the girl wearing it is available for marriage.

A Gumamela is a woody plant with several equally large stems from the base that grows from one meter up to five meters high. Gumamela’s other names are China Rose and Shoeflower. Here in the Philippines, A Gumamela Flower is cultivated as an ornamental plant and it comes in many colors and color combination.

Hibiscus leaves has long been used in the Middle East and Okinawa as herbal tea. It is usually blended with Rose Hip to be effective. Today, the use of Gumamela Tea is gaining worldwide popularity. Hibiscus is associated with longevity or long life. Below are some of the Gumamela Flowers found in Barili, Cebu. Other colors of Gumamela are Red, Yellow, and Purple.

White Gumamela

Among the three Gumamela Flowers here, I like the White Gumamela best because it resembles Purity and Cleanliness.

Pink Gumamela

I like the Pink/Red Gumamela next because it resembles Life and Excitement.

Orange Gumamela

I also like the Yellow/Orange Gumamela but lesser compared to the first two. For me it resembles Uniqueness and Passion.

A Gumamela Flower can also be used to treat Bronchitis, Cough, Fever, Urinary tract infection, bladder infections, High blood pressure, headache and a lot more. The Hibiscus can also be found at Mountain View Nature’s Park Cebu.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 2:20 am and is filed under Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.