Objective  Universality of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers of members of Malvaceae family and roselle herbal plants was examined to extend the genetic information bank.

  Method   A total of 62 pairs of SSR primers were selected from Hibiscus cannabinus, Gossypium spp, Hibiscus esculentus L, and Hibiscus syriacus L. of Malvaceae family. They included 17 pairs from rosemallow and 15 pairs from each of the other crops to compare for polymorphism with those of 8 accessions of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. germplasms.

  Result   Of the 62 SSR primers, 58, or 93.5%, were found common and 48, or 82.8%, polymorphic between the two groups. And out of 246 bands amplified, 239, or 97.2%, were polymorphic. Among the Malvaceae family members, cotton had 14 primer pairs polymorphic at the highest rate of 86.7%, while the rate with rosemallow primers 82.4%, with okra primers 73.3%, and with kenaf primers 66.7%. The PIC of rosemallow primers was the highest at 0.685 among all. A cluster analysis classified the 8 roselle accessions into 3 groups at a similarity coefficient of 0.49. The strain, 19FZ-76, was clustered by itself in the genetic relationship significantly far from other accessions that was reflected by the phenotypic traits as well. The greatest genetic similarity coefficient was observed in the 19FZ-74 cultivars from Myanmar and Zhangzhou, indicating a close genetic relationship of the two accessions and the likely origin of the roselle in Fujian.

  Conclusion   The SSR primers of Malvaceae plants including roselle showed a certain universality. The selected markers could provide a reliable venue for genetic studies, such as variety identification, relationship analysis, and map construction on the herbal plant.