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(Last Modified On 3/8/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/8/2013)
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Species
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ABELMOSCHUS MOSCHATUS Medic.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Malv.-Fam. 46. 1787.
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Synonym
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Hibiscus abelmoschus L., Sp. P1. 696. 1753.
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Description
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Herb or suffrutex, the stem somewhat woody below, up to about 3 m high, hirsute with long, mostly simple, spreading or retrorse, whitish hairs. Leaves with the petiole up to 15 cm long, spreading- or retrorse-hirsute, the stipules subulate, 6-8 mm long, hirsute; blade usually circular or subcircular in outline and up to 20 cm long and 24 cm broad, cordate or sagittate at the base, prominently 5-angulate to usually 3- or 5-palmatilobed or -fid, the segments from deltoid toi narrowly oblong-ovate, with the sinuses usually rounded, acute to long-acuminate at the apex, coarsely serrate to serrate-dentate or infrequently nearly entire at the margin, 5- or 7-palminerved, appressed-hirsute and with the venation prominent on both sides. Flowers solitary in the uppermost leaf axils, long-pedicellate, the pedicel terete, enlarged near the apex, up to 4 cm long, thickened and up to 10 cm long in fruit, spreading- or usually retrose-hirsute; epicalyx bractlets 8-10, very narrowly ovate, acute, 10-17 mm long and 1-2.5 mm broad, long-ciliate, persistent; calyx 2-3.5 cm long, 5-dentate and with the teeth up to 5 mm long, 15-nerved, appressed- hirtellous; petals asymmetrical, rounded at the apex, (4-)7-8 cm long, yellow with a dark purple spot at the base; staminal tube about 1/4-1/3 as long as the corolla; styles exceeding slightly the staminal tube. Capsule ovoid, acuminate, 5-7 cm long and 2-3 cm in diam, appressed-hispid; seeds globose-reniform, ca 3-4 mm long, the testa striate.
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Habit
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Herb
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Common
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Musk okra
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Distribution
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cultivated in the Old World as a fiber plant and for its musk- scented seeds, which are used in perfumery. Often planted as an ornamental in the American tropics.
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Specimen
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BOCAS DEL TORO: 4-6 mi N of Almirante, low open area nr railroad, McDaniel 5109 (MO); Water Valley,. von Wedel 726 (MO); Shepherd Island, von Wedel 2676 (MO, US); Changuinola Valley, Dunlap 272 (F, US). CANAL ZONE: nr Corozal, Piper 5299 (US); Corozal, brushy slope, Standley 27394 (US); Las Cascadas Plantation, nr Summit, in ditch, Standley 29554 (US); s. loc., Slater s.n. (F). CHIRIQUI: vic of Rio Tinta, along highway, Woodson et al. 400 (MO). COL6N: between France Field, Canal Zone, and Catival, roadside, Standley 30362 (US). DARIEN: Rio Sabana, King Leopold III 168 (MO); 0-4 mi up Rio Sabana from Santa Fe, Duke 4159 (MO). PANAMA: Tocumen, Dwyer 4350 (MO).
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