Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench

Herbs annual, 1-2 m tall, most parts with very sparse prickly hairs. Stem often hollow. Stipule filiform, 7-10 mm, sparsely hirsute; petiole 7-15(-35) cm, long hirsute, often with pubescent adaxial groove; leaf blade palmately 3-7-lobed, (5-)10-30 cm in diam., lobes broad to narrow, sparsely hirsute on both surfaces, margin sparsely dentate and emarginate. Flowers solitary, axillary. Pedicel (0.5-)1-2(-5) cm, sparsely strigose. Epicalyx lobes 7-10(-12), filiform, 5-18 × 1-2.5 mm, sparsely hirsute. Calyx campanulate, 2-3 cm, densely stellate puberulent. Corolla yellow or white with dark purple center, 5-7 cm in diam.; petals obovate, 3.5-5 × 3-4 cm. Filament tube 2-2.5 cm. Capsule cylindric to tower-shaped, 10-25 × 1.5-2(-3) cm, long beaked, sparsely strigose. Seeds dark brown or gray, globose to reniform, 5-15 per locule, (3-)4-5(-6) mm, striate, minutely warty. Fl. May-Sep.

Erect, annual herb, 0.5-2.5 cm tall. Stem often tinged red, sparsely, simple, stiff hairy, somewhat rough. Leaves 5-30 cm long and broad, broadly ovate to orbicular, cordate at base, 5-7-nerved, simple and stiff hairy on both sides, glabrescent, angular or 3-7-lobed or parted; lobes ovate to lanceolate or oblong, coarsely serrate to crenate; stipules filiform, 5-10 mm long; petiole 5-35 cm long. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm long, in fruit up to 5 cm. Epicalyx segments 7-12, 5-25 mm long, 1-2.5 mm broad, linear to lanceolate, caducous. Calyx 2-3 cm long. Corolla yellow or yellowish white with a purple spot at the base; petals 3-4.5 cm long and broad. Staminal column 2-2.5 cm long. Capsule 7-25 cm long, 1.5-3 cm across, cylindrical, 5-angled, acuminate, simple hairy, hirsute when young, glabrescent. Seeds 5-15 in each cell, 3-6 mm across, reniform or ovoid, dark brown, glabrous.

  Hibiscus esculentus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 696. 1753; H. longifolius Willdenow.

A member of the hibiscus family, okra is an annual (a plant that germinates, grows and dies in a single season or year) that can grow from 3 to 8 feet tall, depending on the cultivar. The plant is a rather coarse annual with large lobed, slightly spiny leaves and a thick, semi-woody stem with few branches. The flowers are showy: hibiscus-like with pale yellow or cream colored petals and purplish hearts. Okra blooms and produces over an extended season, usually until first frost, bearing yellow flowers that give rise to the familiar okra pods so valued in Cajun gumbos.

Okra is native to the Old World tropics - probably West Africa - and has become established in the wild in some New World tropical areas. It is generally believed that okra first reached the New World during the days of slave trafficking. Okra is a popular and important food in Third World tropical countries. It is widely used in India, Africa and the Middle East, but almost unknown in Europe and northern North America.