MALVACE^ 527 



States led in cotton production, with 16,134,930 bales. 

 British India ranked second with an output of 4,238,494 

 bales. The following table gives the production of cotton 

 by States, 191 5. 



Production of Lint (Excluding Linters) in 500-pouND Gross Weight 

 Bales, by States, igis 



State Bales 



Texas 3,175,000 



Georgia 1,900,000 



South Carolina 1,160,000 



Alabama 1,050,000 



Mississippi 940,000 



Arkansas 785,000 



North Carolina 708,000 



Oklahoma 630,000 



Louisiana 360,000 



Tennessee 396,000 



All other States 108,000 



United States 11,161,000 



Total value of crop $602,393,000 



HIBISCUS ESCULENTUS (Okra, Gumbo) 



Description. — Okra or gumbo is a stout, annual plant. 

 The stems are cylindrical and usually rough-hairy. The 

 leaves are large, heart-shaped, three- to five-lobed, and with 

 very prominent veins; the lobes are coarsely toothed. The 

 solitary, showy flowers arise in the leaf axils; they are 

 subtended by numerous, narrow, involucral bracts; the 

 calyx is five-cleft; there are five large yellow petals; the 

 stamens form a column which is five-toothed at the apex, and 

 is anther-bearing along its entire length; the ovary has five 

 cells, each of which has several ovules; there are five style 

 branches, each tipped by a capitate stigma. Okra is regu- 

 larly cross-pollinated by insects, chiefly bumblebees. The 

 fruit is a pod with five longitudinal ribs; the seeds are large 

 and kidney-shaped. 



