Abelmoschus

Abelmoschus
Abelmoschus esculentus leaves,
flower buds and young fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Tribe: Hibisceae[1]
Genus: Abelmoschus
Medik.
Species

See text.

Abelmoschus is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within Hibiscus, but is now classified as a distinct genus.

The genus comprises annual and perennial herbaceous plants, growing to 2 m tall. The leaves are 10–40 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with 3-7 lobes, the lobes are very variable in depth, from barely lobed, to cut almost to the base of the leaf. The flowers are 4–8 cm diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The fruit is a capsule, 5–20 cm long, containing numerous seeds.

Abelmoschus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Chionodes hibiscella which has been recorded on A. moschatus.

Selected Species

Uses

Several species are edible, with both the young seed pods and the young leaves being eaten as a vegetable. The most important commercially-grown species is okra.

Abelmoschus manihot (aibika) furnishes cordage like jute, and Abelmoschus moschatus (musk mallow) is grown for musk seeds (musk ambrette, which causes photoallergy).

Gallery of different species

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abelmoschus.
Wikispecies has information related to: Abelmoschus
  1. ↑ "Abelmoschus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.