Corchorus aestuans
L.
Malvaceae
Corchorus acutangulus Lam.
Corchorus aesticans Hill
Corchorus brevicaulis Hosok.
Corchorus campestris Macfad.
Corchorus furcatus G.Don
Corchorus fuscus Roxb.
Corchorus oppositiflorus Hassk.
Common Name:
Flowers and leaves
Photograph by: J.M.Garg
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0
Flowers and leaves
Photograph by: J.M.Garg
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0
Growing plant
Photograph by: J.M.Garg
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0
General Information
Corchorus aestuans is an annual plant with erect, sparingly branched stems, growing about 40cm tall[
].
The plant yields a fibre and edible leaves. It is harvested from the wild for local use and is sometimes also cultivated as a fibre plant in tropical W Africa, sometimes also in SE Asia[
].
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
331- Title
- Flora of Guatemala
- Publication
-
- Author
- Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark
- Website
- http://www.archive.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 1946 - 1976
- ISBN
-
- Description
- A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
Range
S. America - Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; Caribbean - Trinidad to the Bahamas; C. America - Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico.
Habitat
A weed of waste ground from sea level to 2,000 metres[
,
372- Title
- Flowers of India
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.flowersofindia.net/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
]. Grassy savannah, fallow land; sandy riverbeds; small alluvial depressions; on heavy alluvial soils; in clay near granitic outcrops at elevations up to 1,350 metres in Somalia[
328- Title
- African Flowering Plants Database
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
- Publisher
- Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].
Properties
| Weed Potential | Yes |
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Other Uses Rating |  |
| Habit | Annual |
| Height | 0.40 m |
| Cultivation Status | Cultivated, Wild |
Cultivation Details
Originally native to the Americas, the plant has spread throughout the tropics and has become an invasive weed in some areas[
].
Edible Uses
Leaves - raw or cooked[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. They can be eaten in salads, used as a vegetable or potherb, or used for vegetable bouillon[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
,
].
Medicinal
None known
Other Uses
A good quality fibre is obtained from the bark - it is used for making string[
942- Title
- Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) No. 16
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Publisher
- The Forest Herbarium; Bangkok.
- Year
- 1986
- ISBN
- 0495-3843
- Description
- A botanical journal, publishing papers on taxonomy (especially vascular plants), nomenclature, phylogeny, systematics, plant geography, and floristics; also morphology, palynology, cytotaxonomy, chemotaxonomy, anatomy and other relevant disciplines.
]. One of the jute fibre plants[
].
Propagation
Seed -
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Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
