Chaoshan hemp leaf is a red hemp leaf.

The Chaoshan hemp leaf belongs to the genus Hibiscus of the mallow family and is the leaf of a kind of red hemp in Chaoshan. It is grown in various regions of China. Native to the African region, red hemp has a strong adaptability to cold and drought, waterlogging.

Hemp leaves are the dried leaves of Robusta. Mainly produced in China's northeast, northwest, north China and other places. Now Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, Hebei and other places have a large number of plantings. Harvested in summer, sun-dried or shade-dried, there are also steam-fried and kneaded with; remove impurities, dry, cut with. Hemp leaf is a kind of Chaoshan endemic red hemp leaves, in the past is not eaten, because the Chaoshan people have to wait for the red hemp grow old, take the skin of the red hemp to weave rope, there is no one to weave the rope, this hemp leaves on people's table.

Morphological characteristics of the Chaoshan hemp leaves

Annual herbs, 1-3 m high. stems erect, the surface with longitudinal grooves, densely pubescent, cortex rich in fibers, the base of the lignification. Palm leaves alternate or lower opposite, divided, lobes 3-11, lanceolate to striate-lanceolate, acuminate at both ends, margin coarsely serrate, dark green and hirsute above, densely grayish-white felted below; petiole 4-15cm long, shortly woolly; stipules small, free, lanceolate.

Flowers unisexual, dioecious; male inflorescences are sparse panicles, terminal or axillary; male flowers with 5 perianth segments, 5 stamens, filaments slender, anthers large; female flowers clustered in the axils of the leaves, greenish-yellow, each with an ovate bract outside, perianth small membranous, pistil 1; in the atrium rounded-globose, the style dichotomous. Achenes ovoid, 4-5 mm long, hard, gray-brown, with fine reticulate lines, wrapped by persistent yellow-brown bracts. Flowering in May-June, fruiting in July-August.