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• Conservation Status
• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Habitat
• Reproduction
• Growth
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes
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Overview:

Herb. This plant is native to India, southern China, tropical Asia and into the Pacific. It is weedy in open and disturbed areas

Conservation Status

Population Trend:

Growing

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms:

1. Hibiscus abelmoschus L.

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Malvenfam. 46. 1787

Name verified on 09-Mar-1995 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 14-Jan-2006

Physical Description

Family Malvaceae:

Herbs, shrubs, or less often trees; indumentum usually with peltate scales or stellate hairs. Leaves alternate, stipulate, petiolate; leaf blade usually palmately veined, entire or various lobed. Flowers solitary, less often in small cymes or clusters, axillary or subterminal, often aggregated into terminal racemes or panicles, usually conspicuous, actinomorphic, usually bisexual (unisexual in Kydia) . Epicalyx often present, forming an involucre around calyx, 3- to many lobed. Sepals 5, valvate, free or connate. Petals 5, free, contorted, or imbricate, basally adnate to base of filament tube. Stamens usually very many, filaments connate into tube; anthers 1-celled. Pollen spiny. Ovary superior, with 2-25 carpels, often separating from one another and from axis; ovules 1 to many per locule; style as many or 2 × as many as pistils, apex branched or capitate. Fruit a loculicidal capsule or a schizocarp, separating into individual mericarps, rarely berrylike when mature (Malvaviscus) ; carpels sometimes with an endoglossum (a crosswise projection from back wall of carpel to make it almost completely septate. Seeds often reniform, glabrous or hairy, sometimes conspicuously so.

About 100 genera and ca. 1000 species: tropical and temperate regions of N and S Hemisphere; 19 genera (four introduced) and 81 species (24 endemic, 16 introduced) in China.

Molecular studies have shown that the members of the Bombacaceae, Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, and Tiliaceae form a very well-defined monophyletic group that is divided into ten also rather well-defined clades, only two of which correspond to the traditional families Bombacaceae and Malvaceae. Some of the remaining groups are included entirely within either of the remaining families but others cut across the traditional divide between the Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. A majority of authors, most notably Bayer and Kubitzki (Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 5: 225-311. 2003), has favored including everything within a greatly enlarged Malvaceae, and treating the individual clades as subfamilies. The alternative view is that the individual clades should be treated as a series of ten families: Bombacaceae (Bombacoideae), Brownlowiaceae (Brownlowioideae), Byttneriaceae (Byttnerioideae), Durionaceae (Durionoideae), Helicteraceae (Helicteroideae), Malvaceae (Malvoideae), Pentapetaceae (Dombeyoideae), Sparrmanniaceae (Grewioideae), Sterculiaceae (Sterculioideae), and Tiliaceae (Tilioideae) (Cheek in Heywood et al., Fl. Pl. Fam. World. 201-202. 2007) . For the present treatment, we prefer to retain the familiar, traditional four families, so as to maintain continuity with the treatments in FRPS, and to await a consensus on the two alternative strategies for dealing with the very widely accepted clades.

The traditional Malvaceae coincides exactly with one of the major clades. The only possible problem is the relationship with the Bombacaceae, which also has primarily 1-loculed anthers, and some authorities have suggested that the Bombacaceae should be included within the Malvaceae.

Members of the Malvaceae are important as fiber crops (particularly cotton, Gossypium) . Young leaves of many species can be used as vegetables, and species of Abelmoschus and Hibiscus are grown as minor food crops. Many species have attractive flowers and an ever-increasing selection is grown as ornamentals. Several have been cultivated for a very long time, particularly species of Hibiscus, and some of these are not known in the wild.^[1]

Genus Abelmoschus:

Herbs annual, biennial, or perennial, often hispid or tomentose, hairs often mostly simple. Leaves entire or palmately lobed. Flowers solitary, axillary, yellow or red. Epicalyx lobes 5-15, filiform, very rarely lanceolate, persistent. Calyx spathaceous, splitting along 1 side at anthesis, apex 5-toothed, caducous with corolla. Corolla with a dark red center, funnel-shaped; petals 5. Staminal column shorter than corolla, 5-toothed at apex, with anthers at base. Ovary 5-loculed; ovule many per locule; style single with 5 sessile capitate stigmas. Capsule elongate, loculicidal, pubescent or hispid. Seeds reniform or globose, many, glabrous, smooth.

About 15 species: tropical and subtropical regions in E Hemisphere; six species (one endemic, one introduced) in China.^[2]

Flowers: Bloom Period: July, August, September. • Flower Color: near white, orange, pale yellow, pink, red, white

Images:

Distribution

Range and Population

Present in American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of Palau, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawai'i, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna Islands. Within the U.S.: .

Caribbean

Native: Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Queensland.

Habitat

Biome

disturbed areas, planted forests, riparian zones, wetlands

Reproduction

Seed

Growth

Culture: Space 24-36" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Abelmoschus:

There are approximately 170 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: A. manihot manihot · A. manihot tetraphyllus · A. moschatus moschatus · A. moschatus tuberosus · A. A. · A. achanioides · A. aculeatus · A. acuminatus · A. albo-rubens · A. albo-ruber · A. alborubens · A. angulosus · A. angustifolius · A. aquaticus · A. ascendens · A. bammia · A. betulifolia · A. biakensis · A. brevicapsulatus · A. caillei · A. cancellatus · A. chinensis · A. ciliaris · A. cisplatinus · A. coccineus · A. collinsianus · A. congener · A. crinitus · A. cruentus · A. cryptocarpus · A. cubensis · A. cucurbitaceus · A. decandrus · A. divaricatus · A. esculentus (Fingers Ladies) · A. esculentus 'Alabama Red' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Annie Oakley Ii' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Annie Oakley' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Arabica' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Aunt Hettie's Red' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Baby Bubba' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Beck's Big Buck Horn' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Big'un' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Blondie' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Burmese' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Cajun Delight' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Cajun Jewel' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Clemson Spineless' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Cowhorn 22' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Cowhorn' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Dad Speegle's Special' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Emerald' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Ever Lucky' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Evertender' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'F696' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'F715' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Fife Creek Cowhorn' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Green Best' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Green Energy' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Green Glory' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Green Jewel' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Green Power' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Greennie' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Hill Country Heirloom Red' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Indiana' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jade' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jakkawad' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'James Hopper' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jet' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jimmy T' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jing Orange' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Joy' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Jubilee' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Kakuhou' (Ornamental Okra) · A. esculentus 'Lee' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Lima' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Little Lucy' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Lomax' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Louisiana Green Velvet' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Lousiana Short' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Lucky Five' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Mac Green' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Mexicana' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'My Joanie' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Okrazilla' (Ornamental Okra) · A. esculentus 'Penta Dragon' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Pentagreen' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Perkins Mammoth Long Pod' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Pure Luck' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Puso' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Red Burgundy' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Red Okra' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Rouge De Thiès' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Silver Queen' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Sok 6101' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'South Sea' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Star of David' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Stubby' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Top Gun' (Okra) · A. esculentus 'Volta' (Okra)

Bibliography

• Bates, D. M. 1968. Notes on the cultivated Malvaceae 2. Abelmoschus. Baileya 16:104–107.
• Borssum Waalkes, J. v. 1966. Malesian Malvaceae revised. Blumea 14:90–95.
• Botanical Survey of India. 1978–. Fascicles of flora of India. (Fasc F India) 19:77.
• Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959–. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae. (F China)
• Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. (F Ceylon)
• Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. (CRC MedHerbs ed2)
• Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. (Zander ed13)
• Feng Kuo-mei. 1984. Malvaceae. In: Feng Kuo-mei, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 1-102.
• Hajra, P. K. et al., eds. 1999–. Flora of Andaman-Nicobar Islands. (F Andaman Nicobar)
• Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. (L Nepal)
• Humbert, J.-H., ed. 1936–. Flore de Madagascar et des Comores. (F Madag)
• Last Modified: Wednesday, 29 December 2004
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3)
• McGuffin, M. et al., eds. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. (Herbs Commerce ed2)
• Merrill, E. D. 1922–1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. (F Philipp)
• Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan. (F Pak)
• Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics. (CultTropS)
• Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993–. Flora of India. (F India)
• Still, S. M. 1994. Manual of herbaceous ornamental plants, ed. 4. (Man HerbPl)
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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 12, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 9 providers.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (May 04, 2008)

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:

• Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, Plants of Papua New Guinea
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 21772
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13741681
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:558023-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDMAL01030
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 167474

Footnotes:

1. Ya Tang, Michael G. Gilbert & Laurence J. Dorr "Malvaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 240, 264,299, 302. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. "Abelmoschus". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 264, 283, 286. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.