Chinese lantern (Abutilon) spp.)

[Jaimie Sweetman is part of the Edible Forest located on the Yarra Valley Estate in Dixons Creek. There are regular tours of the Edible Forest – read more and book your place on a future tour.]

There are lots of species and variants of Chinese lanterns (Abutilon) spp.) and all have edible flowers. Just remove the green calyx and put the rest of the flower in your mouth. Or put the petals on anything from sweet to savoury. They actually taste a bit like lettuce only better and with a bit more sweetness.

The taste varies a bit from species to species and the best tasting ones are probably the orange hybrids (Abutilon x hybridum), as shown in the photo. Others range from yellow to red.

As well as chinese lanterns, plants in the Abutilon genus are sometimes called lantern-flowers, indian mallows or velvetleaves.

The plants flower for much of the year, starting in Autumn. They therefore provide edible flowers when not much else is flowering. This is great if you want to show off to your guests!

The plants grow to around 2 metres high. They are hardy and cope with little water and in most Melbourne conditions, although they will look better and flower more with some compost and mulch.