PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Malvaceae FAMILY

Abelmoschus caillei

Abelmoschus caillei

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

Intensive contact with the slightly hairy fruits and plants may lead to skin irritation[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Biennial
Growth—

A plant of the humid and perhumid tropics in Africa[1]. Tolerates a wide variety of soils but prefers well-drained sandy loams, with a pH in the range 6 - 7, and a high content of organic matter[1]. In southern Cote d'Ivoire, the plant flowers within 50 - 110 days from sowing the seed in the dry season when the days are shortening, and within 65 - 270 days after sowing in the rainy season when the days are lengthening[1]. Short-day types, planted at the beginning of the rainy season, do not flower by the end of the rainy season, but are vegetatively so well-developed that they easily survive the dry season without supplementary water, and flower and bear fruit in a period of scarcity[1]. Crop duration thus shows enormous variation depending on cultivar, locality and season, and varies from 4 months to well over 12 months[1]. Comparing cultivars of similar earliness, it is striking that West African okra has a considerably longer productive period than cultivars of common okra. This is an attractive feature for home garden planting[1]. Flower opening and pollination take place in the early morning. Although basically a self-pollinated crop, considerable cross-pollination by insects may take place[1]. Regular harvesting of all the fruit whilst immature stimulates further flowering, thus lengthening the period of harvest and increasing the overall crop[1]. The earliest cultivars are ready for first harvest at 8 weeks after sowing. Developing fruits should be harvested when 7 - 8 days old. Earlier picking depresses yields because of low fruit weight, but delayed picking depresses marketable yields because over-aged fruits become fibrous. Okra fields are, therefore, harvested at intervals of 2 - 3 days. The minimum frequency is once a week but then fruits of all sizes have to be picked. Although such a low frequency reduces yield, the very small fruits can fetch a higher price, being of prime quality[1]. For seed production, the whole crop can be harvested once-over[1]. A vegetable yield of 10 t/ha can be considered a good harvest, but yields of over 40 t/ha can be realized under optimal conditions[1].

Propagation

Seed - the easiest way to store the seed is to leave it in the pods. Prior to sowing, the seed is often soaked in water to soften the hard seed coat. The seed is usually sown in situ, placing 1 - 3 seeds in each planing hole and subsequently thinning to the strongest plant[1]. Germination usually takes place within one week[1]. Germination and initial growth are improved greatly by cultural practices that lower soil temperature, e.g. Mulching, watering before the hottest part of the day, and sowing on ridge sides least exposed to direct sunlight[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Abelmoschus+caillei>

Pollinators

Self, insects

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  3. [3]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · 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.
  4. [4]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  5. [5]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
  6. [6]Growing from Seed. Volume 1. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1987 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  7. [7]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  8. [8]Eat the Weeds. — Harris. B. C. · Pivot Health · 1973 · ISBN - ↩︎Interesting reading.
  9. [9]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  10. [10]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  11. [11]Edible Leaves of the Tropics — Martin. F. W.; Ruberte. R. M. & Meitzner. L. S. · Echo. USA. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9653360-1-8 ↩︎A terse guide, giving reasonable detail on the more common leaf crops and brief information on a wide range of lesser known plants.
  12. [12]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  13. [13]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  14. [14]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  15. [15]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  16. [16]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  18. [18]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  19. [19]Plant Fibres for Papermaking. — Bell. L. A. · Liliaceae Press · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.
  20. [20]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.