From Sturtevant’s
Edible Plants Of The World
by E. Lewis
Sturtevant
Hibiscus
Malvaceae
Hibiscus cannabinus
Linn.
BASTARD JUTE. DECKANER HEMP. INDIAN HEMP.
Old World tropics. The stem yields a hemp-like fiber sometimes called
Indian hemp, Deckaner hemp, or bastard jute. It is as much cultivated,
says Drury, for the sake of its leaves as its fibers. The leaves serve
as a sorrel spinach.
H. digitatus Cav.
Brazil and Guiana. The plant is used as a vegetable.
H. esculentus Linn.
GOBO. GOMBO. GUMBO. OCRA. OKRA.
Tropical Africa. Okra has become distributed as a plant of cultivation from Khartum and
Sennar throughout Egypt to Palestine and elsewhere. Schweinfurth found
its seed pods a favorite vegetable in Nubia and the plant perfectly
wild on the White Nile. About Constantinople, okra is largely
cultivated and the leaves are used as a demulcent. In India, the
capsule, familiarly known as the bendi-kai, is much esteemed for
imparting a mucilaginous thickening to soups, and the young pods are
often gathered green and pickled like capers; but Firminger states
that, though of an agreeable flavor, the pods, on account of their
slimy nature, are not generally in favor with Europeans.
Its seeds form
one of the best coffee substitutes known. In the south of France, okra
is cultivated for its pods.
It was carried from Africa to Brazil before
1658, reached Surinam before 1686 and is mentioned by Hughes for
Barbados in 1750.
In the southern United States, okra has long been a
favorite vegetable, the green pods being used when quite young, sliced
in soups and similar dishes, to which they impart a thick, viscous or
gummy consistency. The ripe seeds, washed and ground, are also said to
furnish a palatable substitute for coffee. Okra is mentioned by Kalm,
1748, as growing in gardens in Philadelphia; is mentioned by Jefferson
as cultivated in Virginia before 1781; and is included among garden
vegetables by McMahon, 1806, and all succeeding writers on American
gardening. The green seed pods are used in soups, or stewed and served
like asparagus, or when cold made into a salad. The green pods may be
preserved for winter use by cutting them in halves, stringing and
drying them. The young leaves and pods are also occasionally dried,
pulverized and stored in bottles for future use. The stalks of the
plant are used for the manufacture of paper. This plant offers a highly
esteemed vegetable in southern States and is quite frequently, but
neither generally nor extensively, cultivated in northern gardens for
use of the pods in soups and stews.
The Spanish Moors appear to have
been well acquainted with this plant, which was known to them by the
name of bamiyah. Abul-Abbas el-Nebati, a native of Seville, learned in
plants, who visited Egypt in 1216, describes in unmistakable terms the
form of the plant, its seeds and fruit, which last, he remarks, is
eaten when young and tender with meal by the Egyptians. The references
to this plant in the early botanies are not numerous and the synonymies
offered are often incorrect. The following, however, are
justified:
Trionum theophrasti. Rauwolf, in Ap. to Dalechamp, 31. 1857.
Cum ic.
Alcea aegyptia Clusius Hist. 2:27, 1601. Cum ic.
Honorius
bellus. In Clus., 1. c. 2:311.
Bamia alessandrina. Dur. C. Ap. 1617.
Cum ic.
Quingombo. Marcg. Bras., 31, 1648, cum ic.; Piso. Bras. 211,
1658. Cum ic.
Malva rosea sive hortensis. Bauh. J. 2:951. 1651.
Ketmia americana
annua flore albo, fructu non sulcato longissimo. Commelyn, Hort. Med.
150. 1701. Cum ic.
Of these, the last only, that of Commelyn, represents the type of
pod of the varieties usually to be found in our gardens, but plants are
occasionally to be found bearing pods which resemble those figured in
the above list. There is little recorded, however, concerning variety,
as in the regions where its culture is particularly affected there is a
paucity of writers. Miller's Dictionary, 1807, mentions that there are
different forms of pods in different varieties; in some, not thicker
than a man's finger, and five or six inches long; in others, very
thick, and not more than two or three inches long; in some, erect; in
others, rather inclined. Lunan, in Jamaica, 1814, speaks of the pods
being of different size and form in the varieties. In 1831, Don
describes a species, the H. bammia Link., with very long pods. In 1863,
Burr describes four varieties in American gardens; two dwarfs, one
pendant-podded and one tall and white-podded. In 1885, at the New York
Agricultural Experiment Station, varieties were grown under 11
different names and from these there were three distinct sorts only.
Vilmorin, 1885, names but two sorts, the long-fruited and the
round-fruited.
H. ficulneus Linn.
Tropics of Asia and Australia. This species is cultivated in Egypt as a
vegetable.
H. furcatus Willd.
Old World tropics. This species of hibiscus is used as a vegetable.
H. hirtus Linn.
East Indies and Malay. This species furnishes a vegetable of Bengal and
the East Indies.
H. maculatus Lam.
Santo Domingo. This plant is used for food purposes.
H. micranthus Linn.
f.
African tropics and East Indies. It is used as a vegetable.
H. rosa-sinensis Linn.
CHINESE HIBISCUS.
Old World tropics. This is a well-known ornament of our hot-houses. The
people of India and China, prepare a kind of pickle from the petals of
the flowers.
H. sabdariffa Linn.
INDIAN SORREL. ROSELLE.
Old World tropics. Two varieties, the red and white, are cultivated in
most gardens of Jamaica for the flowers which are made, with the help
of sugar, into very agreeable tarts and jellies, or fermented into a
cooling beverage. Roselle is now cultivated in most gardens of India.
The most delicious puddings and tarts, as well as a remarkably fine
jelly, are made of the thick, succulent sepals which envelope the
fruit. There are two kinds, the red and the white. In Malabar, jellies
and tarts are made of the calyces and capsules freed from the seeds as
also in Burma. In Unyoro and Ugani, interior Africa, it is cultivated
for its bark, seeds and leaves. The bark makes beautiful but short
cordage; the leaves make a spinach and the seeds are eaten roasted.
Roselle is now rather commonly grown in Florida.
H. syriacus Linn.
ROSE OF SHARON.
Old World tropics. In China, the leaves are sometimes made into tea or
eaten when young.
H. tiliaceus Linn.
The Tahitians suck the bark when the breadfruit harvest is
unproductive, and the New Caledonians eat it.
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