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 esculéntus, 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. 
