Okra, the common name for hibiscus escu-lentus, a plant of the mallow family. Some regard it as a native of the East Indies, hut De Candolle thinks the common name, also given okkoro, okro, and ockra, points to a tropical American origin. It was formerly known as Abelmoschus, a genus so little distinct from hibiscus that it is now merged in it. Okra is an annual with the general aspect of plants of the mallow family; its usually simple stem is from 2 to 6 ft. high, with rounded heart-shaped, five-lobed leaves, in the axils of which are large yellowish flowers with a purplish centre, from which the calyx early falls away.

Okra (Hibiscus esculentus).

The fruit is a narrow, pyramidal, ten-angled pod, 4 to 8 in. long, sharply pointed, and containing numerous kidney-shaped seeds. There are dwarf varieties only a little over 2 ft. high with shorter pods. Okra is cultivated for its young pods, which abound in mucilage; their principal use is to impart a thickening to soups and to form a peculiar southern dish called gumbo. (See Gumbo.) They are sometimes simply boiled and dressed like asparagus, and are much esteemed by those accustomed to them. Okra will grow in any good garden soil, and may be sown in place or transplanted from a hotbed, giving the plants plenty of room. The dwarf varieties are best suited to northern gardens. The pods must be gathered when perfectly tender, before any woody fibre has formed in them; and if any become too old for use they should be removed, that the plants may continue to produce. For winter use the pods are put down in salt, the same as cucumbers, or are sliced and dried. Among the many substitutes that have been proposed for coffee are the seeds of okra.

The mallow family generally have tough fibrous inner bark, and that of the okra affords a very handsome fibre; it has been proposed for paper stock.