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Abelmoschus manihot

Common name:	Aibika	Family:	Malvaceae
Author:	(L.)Medik.	Botanical references:	200, 266
Synonyms:	Hibiscus manihot (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - South-eastern Asia to Northern Australia.
Habitat:	Wasteland and humid rocky hillsides[260]. In Nepal it grows at elevations of 700 - 1700 metres in rocky places with shrubs[272]. Grasslands, near streams and margins of farm land[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Huang Shu K'Uei Ken [E], Kastuli [E], Sunset Muskmallow [P], Tororo-Aoi [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Malvales. Mallow family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China India Japan Philippines Philippines(Tagalog)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 2m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers Leaves.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[183, 200]. Sweet and mucilaginous[183].
Flower buds - raw or cooked[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Emmenagogue Odontalgic Vulnerary.

The bark is said to be emmenagogue[240]. A paste of the bark is used to treat wounds and cuts, with new paste being applied every 2 - 3 days for about 3 weeks[272].
In Nepal the root juice is warmed and applied to sprains[272].
The juice of the flowers is used to treat chronic bronchitis and toothache[272].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Easily grown in any well-drained soil in a sunny position[200].
Plants will tolerate occasional short-lived lows down to about -5° c so long as they are in a very well-drained soil[260].
A perennial plant, it is generally tender in the temperate zone but can be grown outdoors as an annual, flowering well in its first year and setting seed[200, K]. Plants will occasionally overwinter in a cold greenhouse[K]. It grows well in an ornamental vegetable garden[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow March in a warm greenhouse. The seed should germinate with two weeks, when it is large enough to handle prick it out into individual pots and plant out after the last expected frosts.
The seed can also be sown in situ in late April in areas with warm summers.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Latin and Worldwide Common Names From Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database by M. H. Porcher et. al. 1995 - 2000 Landcare Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Crop Production,Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Hibiscus manihot (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for the family Malvaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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