| Musk Mallow |
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Botanical name: Abelmoschus moschatus Family: Malvaceae (Mallow family)
Synonyms: Hibiscus abelmoschus
Synonyms: Hibiscus abelmoschus
Musk Mallow is a
herb or undershrub, erect 0.5-3 m tall. Stem is simple and retrorse hairy,
bristly to prickly. Leaves are 6-30 cm long and broad, round or broadly ovate,
heart-shaped at base, not or 3-7 lobed or parted, bristly on both sides;
lobes deltoid to oblong-lanceshaped, sawtoothed to toothed or rounded
toothed or rarely entire; stipules linear or thread-like, 6-12 mm long,
simple hairy; leaf-stalk 2-30 cm long, bristly. Flowers arise in leaf-axils,
solitary, flower-stalk 2-8 cm long, in fruit up to 19 cm. False sepals are
6-10, 8-20 mm long, 1-2.5 mm broad, appressed, linear
to lanceshaped. Sepal-cup 2-3.5 cm long. Flower 10 cm across, yellow with
a deep purple spot at the base; petals 7-9 cm long, 2-5.5 cm broad,
fringed with hairs at base. Staminal tube 1.5-2 cm long. Capsule 5-8 cm
long, 2-3.5 cm across, ovoid to spindle-shaped, densely simple hairy,
usually bristly. Seeds 3-4 mm across, ovoid-kidney-shaped, usually
hairless or rarely star-shaped velvet-hairy, black.
Medicinal uses:
Musk Mallow is used as an antidote for
snakebites. An emulsion from the seeds is considered to be anti-spasmodic
and is used externally. Extensively used as an insecticide and a
aphrodisiac. The oil of the seeds, with a strong musk odor, are also used
in the perfume industry (now largely replaced by synthetic musk oils) and
is used to flavor coffee.
Medicinal uses:
Musk Mallow is used as an antidote for
snakebites. An emulsion from the seeds is considered to be anti-spasmodic
and is used externally. Extensively used as an insecticide and a
aphrodisiac. The oil of the seeds, with a strong musk odor, are also used
in the perfume industry (now largely replaced by synthetic musk oils) and
is used to flavor coffee. | Identification credit: Navendu Pāgé | Photographed in Dehradoon, Uttarakhand. |
• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,