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Sida rhombifolia
Also called Queensland Hemp, Arrowleaf Sida, Paddy Lucerne, Broomjue Sida, Common Sida, Sida Retusa, Sidaweed
Sida rhombifolia is a perennial or sometimes annual weedy shrub in the mallow family, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. It is a common roadside and waste-ground plant, grown in India mainly for medicinal use and historically for its stem fiber.
Sida rhombifolia, commonly known as arrowleaf sida, is a perennial or sometimes annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Other common names include rhombus-leaved sida, Paddy's lucerne, jelly leaf, and also somewhat confusingly as Cuban jute, Queensland-hemp, and Indian hemp (although S. rhombifolia is not closely related to either jute or hemp). Synonyms include Malva rhombifolia. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is known as kurumthotti.
Sida rhombifolia is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Africa through India and southeast Asia to Japan, as well as Indonesia and the Philippines. It has been introduced to tropical and subtropical parts of both north and south America, Australia, islands of the Pacific, and some parts of Europe. This species is usually confined to waste ground, such as roadsides and rocky areas, stock camps or rabbit warrens, but can be competitive in pasture, because of its unpalatability to livestock. It grows on savannahs, roadsides, thick scrub, hillsides, and swampy woodlands. It is such a tropical species that it is located below 2,000 meters above sea level.
Arrowleaf sida stems are used as rough cordage, sacking, and for making brooms. The stems have a high quality fiber and were once exported from India and elsewhere as “hemp” (Guzmán 1975, Holm and others 1997). Chemical analysis revealed that the leaves contain respectable amounts of nutrients: 74,000 to 347,000 ppm protein, 94,000 to 475,000 ppm carbohydrates, 33,000 to 167,000 ppm fiber, 14,000 to 71,000 ppm fat, and 16,000 to 81,000 ppm ash. However, it was reported that the root contained 450 ppm alkaloids and the presence of ephedrine and saponin (Southwest School of Botanical Medicine 2002). Another source reports an alkaloid content in the root of 0.1 percent and the presence of choline, pseudoephedrine, beta-phenethylamine, vascin, hipaphorine and related indole alkaloids (Shaman Australis Ethnobotanicals 2002). Perhaps because of these chemicals, arrowleaf sida is unpalatable to cattle (Kuniata and Rapp 2001). Arrowleaf sida has significant medicinal applications for which it is cultivated throughout India.
Common wireweed · Sand Sida · Sida clementii · ‘ilima · Corrugated sida · Yellow ‘ilima · Sida javensis · Sida mysorensis · Rock Sida · Sida spenceriana · Prickly fanpetals · Fanpetals
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sida rhombifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
