What is in the category
Chamomile, hibiscus, jasmine, chrysanthemum, elderflower, lavender, rose and butterfly pea flower are the flowers most commonly infused. Unusually among herbal categories this one is defined by what the material is rather than by what it is taken for, which makes it the most coherent grouping of the set — and, in commerce, the least used, because shops organise by purpose rather than by anatomy.
Two distinct traditions
Flowers are used in two quite different ways. Some are infused directly and are the drink themselves: chrysanthemum in China, hibiscus across West Africa, the Caribbean and Egypt, chamomile across Europe. Others are used to SCENT tea rather than to be drunk alone — jasmine and osmanthus are layered with green tea over repeated cycles and then removed, so what reaches the cup is tea carrying a flower’s aroma rather than an infusion of the flower. Conflating the two is common and produces some genuinely odd advice.
How they are prepared, and why colour matters here
Flowers are delicate in structure and often robust in flavour. Boiling water and five to ten minutes covered suits most; lavender and rose are strong enough that a small quantity is the usual advice. Colour is more of a feature in this category than anywhere else in tea: hibiscus gives a deep magenta, butterfly pea a vivid blue that turns purple when acid is added, and chrysanthemum a pale gold. Butterfly pea’s colour change is a pH effect and is the most reliably entertaining thing in the herbal catalogue.
The limitation, stated plainly
A shared plant part is the only thing these flowers have in common. They are not botanically related, they do not share a chemistry, and the category carries no implication about what any of them does. Hibiscus in particular attracts a large quantity of health marketing that TeaHQ does not repeat and has not assessed.