Hibiscus sabdariffa species. What is hibiscus? Oftenâand erroneouslyâdescribed as a flower, the hibiscus we cook with is actually a collection of sepals (known as a calyx), the part of a flowering plant that protects the bud and supports the petal once in bloom. Before the plant flowers, the calyx resembles a pointed bud, holding the seed pod, but it unfurls as the flowers push through the pod. Where does hibiscus come from? Likely native to West Africa, East Africa, Southeast Asia, or Northeastern India, hibiscus goes by many names: Bissap in parts of West Africa; Karkade in North Africa (specifically, in Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan); Rosela, Rosella, Grosella, and Sorrel in Indonesia, Australia, and across the Caribbean and Latin America; Mathipuli in Kerala; Krachiap in Thailand; Luo Shen Hua in China; and Flor de Jamaica in Mexico and across North America.