Common Name:

General Information

Corchorus trilocularis is an annual plant growing 10 - 150cm tall. The main stem is usually erect and multi-branched, though the plant sometimes has a more decumbent habit[].
A popular vegetable collected from the wild for home consumption and often sold at local markets. It is only rarely cultivated on a small scale, but is often allowed to remain as a weed in gardens[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Widely spread through tropical Africa, tropical and subtropical Asia to Australia.

Habitat

Found in a wide range of habitats, from seasonally inundated land on clay soils and river banks to grassland, roadsides and disturbed places, most commonly in places with residual moisture such as clay plains[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of mainly tropical areas, it grows best when temperatures are around 25°c[]. In Tanzania it grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,000 - 1,800mm[].
Prefers a sunny position. Succeeds in a range of soils from black cotton soil to semi-arid sandy soils[]. Grows best in fertile soils[].
The plant has spread widely as a result of human activity. It is commonly found as a weed in irrigated fields, and in soils with residual moisture, where it may colonize the entire area, becoming the most abundant species[]. It has been recorded as invasive in New Caledonia[].
A fast-growing plant with a short growing season, often no longer than 3 - 4 months[].
Harvesting the shoot tips commences when plants are about 10 cm tall. These fresh shoots are most appreciated. Plucking of shoots continues until fruits start developing and from then on only new side shoots or individual young leaves are harvested[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and young shoots - cooked and eaten as a vegetable, used for soup and as a relish[, , ]. The leaves are cooked into a mucilaginous product that is either used as a sauce or as relish with maize or other cereal. It is popular because cooking does not take much time and requires only small amounts of fuel[].

Flowers - cooked as a vegetable[]. Mucilaginous with a mild flavour, they are usually mixed with more coarse vegetables[]. The flowers can be dried and ground into a powder and kept for use in the dry season[].

Medicinal

The leaves are used as a plaster to reduce swellings[].

The seeds are used in the treatment of gripe and nausea[].

Other Uses

Fibres from the stems are used for making robes[]. (almost certainly a typo for ropes[]) The fibre is used to make ropes[, ].

Propagation

Seed -

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