Corchorus olitorius

Botanical Description

Corchorus olitorius is an erect, annual to short-lived perennial plant growing up to 3.5 metres tall. The plant is usually strongly branched[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The plant is a very popular vegetable crop in many tropical countries, where it makes an excellent spinach substitute in areas with hot summers. The plant is also the source of an excellent fibre. It is often cultivated in the tropics and warm temperate areas both for the fibre in its stem and also for its edible leaves[ 183 Title Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Publication Author Facciola. S. Publisher Kampong Publications Year 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 Description 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. , 300 Title Vegetables in the Tropics Publication Author Tindall. H. D. Publisher MacMillan, Oxford. Year 1983 ISBN 0-333-24268-8 Description An excellent, in-depth look at the main vegetable crops that can be grown in the Tropics, plus many less well-known plants. ].