MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 283 



shaped in outline but deeply three-lobed, the middle lobe 

 much the longest, the segments again cut and toothed. 

 Flowers usually single in the upper axils, about two inches 

 broad, pale sulfur-yellow with a purple center and fine purple vein- 

 ing, the five broad petals often tinged with purple on the outer 

 edge; they open only in sunshine and are usually closed before 

 noon ; calyx a thin, hairy, five-angled, membranous, and much 

 inflated green "bladder," also delicately purple-veined ; ovary five- 

 celled, the cells usually three-seeded, the styles stigmatic at the 

 summit, the column of stamens long, truncate at the top and 

 bearing anthers below for much of its length. Involucral bracts 

 linear, very hairy. Seeds triangular kidney-shaped, brown, 

 roughened with pimples of lighter shade. 



Means of control 



Prevent seed production by hand pulling or hoe-cutting while in 

 first bloom. Ground where seeds have matured should be put to a 

 well-tilled hoed crop. 



OKRA OR GUMBO 



Hibiscus esculentus, L. 



Introduced. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: July to September. 



Seed-time : September until cut off by frost. 



Range : Southeastern and Gulf States. An escape from cultivation. 



Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



Okra was brought from Africa in the old slave-trading days. 

 It is cultivated in the South for its mucilaginous green pods, which 

 are used for thickening soups, ketchups, and stews, or cooked whole 

 as a table vegetable ; also its ripe seeds are often roasted and used 

 as a substitute for coffee. Although treated as an annual, the 

 plant will live for years if not killed by frost, and therefore it is 

 rather a bad weed when out of bounds. 



Stem eighteen inches to three feet high, rather stout, with few 

 branches. Leaves somewhat thick in texture, rounded in outline 

 but five- to seven-lobed, the segments cut about halfway to the 

 base, coarsely toothed, and with petioles about as long as the leaves. 



