Prickly hibiscus creeper

Hibiscus surattensis, known as bush sorrel or wild sour, is a sprawling annual or short-lived perennial herb to subshrub of the family Malvaceae, widely distributed across tropical Asia, Africa and northern Australia in disturbed ground, roadsides and clearings. The trailing or scrambling stems are up to about 2 metres long and armed with small recurved prickles. The alternate leaves are palmately three- to five-lobed with toothed margins, often reddish-veined, and bear leaf-like stipule appendages at the base of the leaf stalk. Solitary flowers arise in the leaf axils, each with five broad petals that are pale yellow to cream, sometimes white, with a deep crimson or purple basal blotch surrounding the central staminal column; the epicalyx bracts are distinctively forked and spreading. The fruit is a hairy ovoid capsule enclosed by the persistent calyx, splitting to release small seeds. The acidic young leaves and shoots are used as a sour vegetable.