Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench

Abelmoschus species are herbs, undershrubs or small trees. Branches with simple prickly or stellate hairs. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or palmilobed, usually sagittate to hastate with to-parted segments or pennilobed, margins crenate-dentate, rarely entire, coriaceous, petiolate, stipulate. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, solitary or cymes. Flowers bisexual, pedicel slender, inarticulate, epicalyx 4-16, free, base rarely connate, persistent to caducous, calyx 5 lobed or toothed at tip, base connate, valvate, corolla large, 5, yellow with dark purple, white or pink. Stamens indefinite, monadelphous, forming an epipetalous staminal tube united with corolla, filament short, introrse, anthers basifixed, throughout. Ovary superior, 5 locular, ovules many, style 1, 5 branched distally, stigma discoid. Fruit capsule, ovoid to cylindric, apex beaked or mucronate, dehiscent with longitudinal slits towards the base. Seed many, reniform or globose, smooth.

Shrub

Flowering & Fruiting: July-October

Abelmoschus species flowers are complete, bisexual, i.e., with functional male (androecium) and female (gynoecium), including stamens, carpels and ovary. Pollination is entomophilous i.e., by insects, or cleistogamy i.e., by self or allogamy i.e., by cross pollination. Flowering/Fruiting: Almost throughout the year.

Seeds may be dispersed by autochory i.e., self dispersal, anemochory i.e., wind dispersal, zoochory i.e., dispersal by birds or animals, anthropochory i.e., dispersal by humans.

Annual herbs, 2 m tall; stems and branches hirsute white bristly hairs. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules ca. 7-10 mm long, filiform; petiole ca. 15-35 cm, long hirsute, often with pubescent adaxial groove; lamina ca. 6-12 x 4-10 cm, variable, palmately 3-7-lobed to palmately partite, with widely triangular, ovate, oblong or lanceolate, acute or acuminate at apex, coarsely dentate-serrate, upper sagittate; secondary nerves 5-7 pairs. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicel ca. 1-5 cm, sparsely strigose; epicalyx lobes 10-12, filiform, ca. 5-18 × 1-2.5 mm, sparsely hirsute; calyx campanulate, 2-3 cm, densely stellate puberulent; corolla yellow or white with dark purple centre, 5-7 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 3.5-5 × 3-4 cm; Filament tube ca. 2-2.5 cm; staminal column short, at apex 5 toothed; style distally divided into 5, spreading branches. Capsule cylindric to tower-shaped, ca. 10-25 × 1.5-3 cm, long beaked, sparsely strigose. Seeds 5-15 per locule, ca. 3-6 mm, dark brown or grey, globose to reniform, striate, and minutely warty.

Herbs or undershrubs, about 0.5-1.5 m tall. Stem and branches with sparse simple prickly or stellate hairs when young, glabrescent ultimately. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed, transversely orbicular, about 4-13 x 5-16 cm across, base cordate, 5-7 nerved, lobes about 3-7, ovate-oblong, ovate-triangular, with about 2-3 lobules, margins crenate-dentate, rarely entire, adpressed pubescent with stiff simple hairs both above and beneath, becoming glabrescent later, coriaceous, petiole usually longer than the leaf lamina, about 12-15 cm long, stipules filiform, sparsely hirsute, about 6-10 x 2-3 mm across. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, solitary. Flowers bisexual, yellow, pedicel slender, inarticulate, about 0.5-2 cm long, epicalyx 9-12, free, base rarely connate, segments about 1 cm long, calyx 5 lobed, base connate, valvate, membranous, stellate pubescent, about 1-2.5 x 1 cm across, corolla large, 5, yellow with dark purple or pink near the centre, obovate, densely studded with bristles, about 2-3.5 x 1-1.5 cm across. Stamens indefinite, monadelphous, forming an epipetalous staminal tube united with corolla, filament short, introrse, anthers basifixed, throughout. Ovary superior, 5 locular, ovules many, style 1, stigma discoid. Fruit capsule, ovoid-cylindric, apex beaked, dehiscent with longitudinal slits towards the base, densely hispid with simple hairs. Seed many, reniform or globose, about 3-5 mm across, villous or glabrous, black or dark brown.

Abelmoschus species are susceptible to various insect pests, virus and fungi, affecting leaves, fruits and roots.

Notes: Cultivated as vegetable

Cultivated in agricultural fields and gardens.

Cultivated

Throughout Assam

Not evaluated (IUCN).

Extensively used as a vegetable. Used in Ayurvedic, Unani and folk medicine.

The fruit is used as vegetable