Flora of North America species comparison

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Abelmoschus

okra
Habit Herbs, annual [perennial], [subshrubs], glabrate to densely hairy, often harshly so.
Stems

not hairy.
x

= 29, 30, 33, 34, 36.

Abelmoschus
Distribution
from USDA
s Asia; se Asia; Africa; sw Pacific Islands; Australia [Introduced, Fla.; introduced nearly worldwide, often becoming naturalized, especially in tropical and subtropical regions]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 6+ (1 in the flora).

Abelmoschus is a segregate of Hibiscus; it is unique in calyx characters among others. Conservative interpretations of Abelmoschus recognize six species; many others have been named.

In addition to Abelmoschus esculentus, A. manihot (Linnaeus) Medikus and A. moschatus Medikus are cultivated as ornamentals in North America and may occasionally escape. The leaves of Abelmoschus are edible; the seeds of A. moschatus have a musk odor and yield ambrette, an oil used in perfumery.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 219. Author: David M. Bates.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae
Subordinate taxa
A. esculentus
Name authority Medikus: Malvenfam., 45. (1787)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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