Abelmoschus caillei

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

Species of flowering plant

title: "Abelmoschus caillei" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["abelmoschus", "flora-of-africa"] description: "Species of flowering plant" topic_path: "general/abelmoschus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelmoschus_caillei" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of flowering plant ::

| image = | genus = Abelmoschus | species = caillei | authority = (A.Chev.) Stevels | synonyms = {{Plainlist | style = margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; |

  • Abelmoschus caillei Stevels
  • Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench
  • Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medik
  • Hibiscus esculentus L.
  • Hibiscus manihot var. caillei A.Chev. | synonyms_ref =

Abelmoschus caillei, the West African okra, is a plant species in the family Malvaceae. It occurs in humid areas of West and Central Africa, where it is used as a vegetable. It originated as an allopolyploid hybrid of Abelmoschus esculentus and A. manihot, and is often mistaken for either of those two plants. The same hybrid was produced experimentally in Japan where it is known as Abelmoschus glutino-textile.

Description

Abelmoschus caillei occurs as an erect and stout herb that is often woody at the base. Its flowers are axillary, with their petals yellow to pink. The plant is typically 60-65 inches tall (though it may reach 85 inches). The stems may be green, red, or green with some red pigmentation. The seeds are typically ovoid to oblong in shape, about 3-5 inches long, and may have a rough surface. The leaves are green and lobed, while petioles are typically purple.

Uses

Abelmoschus caillei is consumed as a vegetable in a variety of ways, with young leaves being consumed as spinach and young fruits being consumed after being cooked or fried. Its edibility combined with its resistance to Bhendi yellow vein mosaic virus allows the plant to be commonly cultivated in subsistence farming in high rainfall areas of West Africa. Its leaves can also be used as cattle feed.

Intensive contact with the fruit and plant may cause skin irritation.

In Nigeria, the plant is used medicinally for sore throats and child bearing, as well as to make certain household items like rope and sponges.

References

References

  1. Umberto Quattrocchi. (2016). "CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology". CRC Press.
  2. (2004). "Vegetables". PROTA.
  3. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
  4. "Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter - Morphological characterization of two species of Abelmoschus: Abelmoschus esculentus and Abelmoschus caillei".
  5. K. V. Peter. (2007). "Underutilized and Underexploited Horticultural Crops". New India Publishing.
  6. "Abelmoschus caillei - Useful Tropical Plants".
  7. (September 2013). "Collecting West African Okra (Abelmoschus caillei (A. Chev.) Stevel) Germplasm from Traditional Agriculture in Parts of Southwestern Nigeria". The Bioscientist.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

abelmoschusflora-of-africa