Botany of Ohra 



321 



The Okra Plant 



Hibiscus. Malvacew. Nearly 200 species of herbs and small 

 trees iu many parts of tlie world. 



H. esculentus, Linn. Sp. PI. 696. Okra. Gumbo. (Alel- 

 moschus esculentus, Moench, Metli. 617. 1794.) Stout erect 

 branching nearly glabrous annual (biennial and perhaps per- 

 ennial), 2 to 7 ft. tall: stems terete, pithy, more or less fur- 

 rowed, often colored, glabrous or with few scattered hairs: 

 leaves alternate, long-petioled, the blade various in shape 

 from rounded and hollyhock-like to palmately 3- to 5-parted 

 or compound, the margins coarsely and irregularly dentate, 

 cordate at the base, with scattered hairs on the veins : flowers 

 solitary in the upper axils, on stout erect furrowed or angled 

 peduncles, large, yellow or straw-yellow with a red eye, sub- 

 tended by very narrow bracteoles about 1 in. long; calyx-lobes 

 large and broad, acute, about half the length of the bell-shaped 

 corolla which is 2 to 3 in. long ; petals large and showy, 

 obovate; stamens united in a column in the center of the 

 flower and surrounding the 5 styles : fruit a long straight or 

 curved strongly ribbed pubescent or hairy 5-celled pod (4 to 12 

 in. long), which is expanded at the base and long-pointed 

 at the apex : seeds gray or brown, skull-shaped or nearly 

 globular, with fine concentric broken lines, and a whitish 

 base-point, -f^ to i/4 in. diameter, about 45 to 60 mg. in weight, 

 lasting about 5 years. — Supposedly native in Old World tropics, 

 Africa or Asia or both ; probably not anciently cultivated, 

 although now widespread in warm countries. 



MARTYNIA 



Martynia is grown for the half -matured seed-pods, which 

 are used for pickles. The plant requires a warm soil and 

 exposure. Give much room, for a good plant will spread 

 over an area of 3 or 4 feet across. It is a low-spreading 

 plant of very rapid growth, with very large hairy leaves, 

 odd showy flowers, and long-beaked hairy pods. It de- 



