528 BOTANY OF CROP PLANTS 



Geographical. — The original home of okra is Africa. It is now introduced 

 into many civilized countries, and grown as a vegetable with particular suc- 

 cess in the warmer ones. 



Types.— Beattie divides the varieties of okra into three 

 types: (i) Tall green, (2) dwarf green, and (3) lady finger. 

 Each of these is further divided into long-podded and short- 

 podded sorts. Plants of the "lady-finger" type are much 

 Hghter in color than those of the other two types. Tall 

 green okras are 4 to 8 feet high, dwarf green sorts about i}4, 

 to 2>}"2 feet high, and lady-finger varieties close to 3 feet high. 



Uses. — Okra is used chiefly in soups. Not infrequently 

 the young seeds are cooked. When the pods are very young 

 and tender, they are cooked and served as a salad. A fiber 

 used in the manufacture of paper is sometimes made from 

 both stems and mature pods. In some countries the pods 

 are dried, and in this form kept for winter use. 



References 



Balls, W. L. : The Sexuality of Cotton. Yearbook Khediv. Agr. Soc. Cairo, 



1905. 

 Beattie, W. R.: Okra: Its Culture and Uses. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' 



Bull. 232: 1-16, 1905. 

 Bowman, F. H.: Structure of the Cotton Fiber. Manchester, England, 1881. 

 Brooks, E.C.: The Story of Cotton. Chicago, New York, and London, 1911. 

 Cook, O. F., and Meade, R. M.: Arrangement of Parts in the Cotton Plant. 



U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Plant Ind. Bull. 222: 1-26, 1911. 

 Dimorphic Leaves of Cotton and Allied Plants in Relation to Heredity. 



U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Plant Ind. Bull. 221: 1-59, 191 1. 

 Cook, O. F., McLachlan, Argyle, and Meade, R. M.: A Study of Diversity 



in Egyptian Cotton. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Plant Ind. Bull. 156: 1-60, 



1909- 

 DuGGAR, J. F.: Descriptions and Classification of Varieties of American 



Upland Cotton. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 140: 1-104, 1907. 

 Evans, W. H.: Botany of Cotton. U. S. Dept. Agr. Office of Expt. Stats. 



Bull. 33: 67-80, 1896. Contains a Bibliography of Cotton. 

 Flatters, A.: The Cotton Plant: Its Development and Structure and the 



Evolution and Structure of the Cotton Fiber. London and Manchester. 



1906. 



