Besides being such a great ornamental tree, Hibiscus tiliaceus has many traditional uses around the world. In Tahiti, the leaves were wrapped around food to be cooked, and were also used as plates. The leaves are fed to cattle in Southeast Asia. The roots and young shoots are reported to have been eaten by aborigines in Queensland. The Polynesians ate the young leaves and used the bast fibres to make ropes and the adult bark to make "tapa", a traditional clothing used in pre-European Polynesia. A Singaporean source states that the fibre is used for strings and ropes for making fishing nets and caulking boats. In Hawaii the wood is used to make outrigger canoes. Several medicinal uses are listed as well, including to cool fevers and soothe coughs (leaves), treat dysentery (bark), ear infections and abscesses (flowers), as laxative (bark and flower), etc. The light timber is attractively patterned and easily worked.