PROTA4U
Record display
.PROTA4U Homepage

.Select translation pop-up:  

Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet

Protologue  
 Hort. Brit.: 53 (1826).
 show more data (17)comments (0) 
 
Family  
 Malvaceae
 show more data (16)comments (0) 
 
Chromosome number  
 2n = 42
 show more data (4)comments (0) 
 
Synonyms  
 Sida hirta Lam. (1783), Abutilon graveolens (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Wight & Arn. (1833).
 show more data (37)comments (0) 
 
Vernacular names  
 Florida Keys, Indian mallow (En).
 show more data (7)comments (0) 
 
Origin and geographic distribution  
 Abutilon hirtum is a pantropical species. In tropical Africa it occurs in Cape Verde and from Niger and Nigeria eastward to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, and southward to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. It also occurs in Réunion and Mauritius.
 show more data (23)comments (0) 
 
Uses  
 The stem bark is used for making string, and fibre from the bark is made into cordage and cloth. In Kenya the fruits are eaten raw, while the leaves are browsed by cattle, goats and camels. In the same country the species is said to be used to ease childbirth and to expel the placenta. In traditional veterinary medicine in Uganda a water extract of the bark is used to expel a retained placenta. The plant has ornamental value.
 show more data (8)comments (0) 
 
Production and international trade  
 show more data (1)comments (0) 
 
Properties  
 The bark fibre is recorded to be long, fine, soft and strong. The presence of alkaloids in the plant has been recorded.
 show more data (1)comments (0) 
 
Botany  
 Perennial herb or shrub up to 2.5 m tall; all or most parts with sticky yellow to orange basally swollen glandular hairs, sparsely tomentose and often with long simple hairs. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules linear to subulate, 3–12 mm long, persistent; petiole 1–20 cm long; blade ovate to suborbicular, 2–24 cm × 1–19.5 cm, cordate at the base, acute to acuminate at the apex, margin toothed, both surfaces hairy, palmately 5–9-veined. Flowers solitary in leaf axils or in narrow panicle with simple or branched peduncle, bisexual, regular; pedicel 1.5–7 cm long, accrescent; epicalyx absent; calyx bell-shaped, 7–18 mm long, 5-fid with oval segments, cuspidate; petals 5, united at the base and adnate to the base of the staminal column, 15–27 mm long, yellow to bright orange, often with dark red to purple base, hairy at the base; stamens many, staminal column 5–9 mm long, filaments 3–5 mm long; ovary superior. Fruit a subglobose schizocarp of follicle-like mericarps, 1–1.5 cm × 1–2.5 cm, truncate, depressed; mericarps 16–30, oblong, 8–12(–14) mm × 5–9(–10) mm, truncate above and terminating in a minute tooth, (1–) 3-seeded. Seeds c. 2.5 mm × 2.5 mm, black, reticulate, papillose.
Abutilon comprises 100–150 species and is distributed in the tropics and subtropics. There is a need for further taxonomical study as the circumscription of several species is obscure.
 show more data (0)comments (0) 
 
Description  
 show more data (11)comments (0) 
 
Other botanical information  
 show more data (2)comments (0) 
 
Growth and development  
 show more data (1)comments (0) 
 
Ecology  
 The plant occurs from sea level up to 1800 m altitude in woodland, bushland, savannas, overgrazed grassland, roadsides, hedges and fences, often near rivers and other moist locations. It is sometimes found on termite nests.
 show more data (4)comments (0) 
 
Propagation and planting  
 show more data (9)comments (0) 
 
Management  
 Abutilon hirtum is a host for okra mosaic virus (OkMV).
 show more data (0)comments (0) 
 
Genetic resources and breeding  
 Abutilon hirtum is widely distributed in Africa and occurs in a wide range of habitats. Therefore it is not under any threat of genetic erosion.
 show more data (0)comments (0) 
 
Prospects  
 Abutilon hirtum is of local importance only. Unfortunately, too little information on the fibre properties is available to make a proper assessment of its prospects as a fibre plant.
 show more data (0)comments (0) 
 
Major references  
 • Beentje, H.J., 1994. Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya. 722 pp.
• Burkill, H.M., 1997. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Families M–R. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 969 pp.
• Bussmann, R.W., 2006. Ethnobotany of the Samburu of Mt. Nyiru, South Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Ethnobiology & Ethnomedicine 2: 35.
• Stave, J., Oba, G., Nordal, I. & Stenseth, N.C., 2007. Traditional ecological knowledge of a riverine forest in Turkana, Kenya: implications for research and management. Biodiversity Conservation 16: 1471–1489.
• Verdcourt, B. & Mwachala, G.M., 2009. Malvaceae. In: Beentje, H.J. & Ghazanfar, S.A. (Editors). Flora of Tropical East Africa. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 169 pp.
 show more data (28)comments (0) 
 
Other references  
 • Balu Perumal, 2001. Abutilon Miller. In: van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. & Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors). Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands. pp. 29–31.
• Duarte, M.C., Gomes, I. & Moreira, I., 2002. Ilha de Santiago (Cabo Verde): notas florísticas e fitogeográficas (2). Garcia de Orta, Série de Botânica 15(1): 55–58.
• Gradé, J.T., Tabuti, J.R.S. & van Damme, P., 2009. Ethnoveterinary knowledge in pastoral Karamoja, Uganda. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 122: 273–293.
• Marais, W. & Friedmann, F., 1987. Malvacées. In: Bosser, J., Cadet, T., Guého, J. & Marais, W. (Editors). Flore des Mascareignes. Familles 51–62. The Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius, l’Office de la Recherche Scientifique Outre-Mer, Paris, France & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 57 pp.
• Mauersberger, H.R. (Editor), 1954. Textile fibers: their physical, microscopic and chemical properties. 6th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York, United States. 1283 pp.
• Munirajappa, & D. G. Krishnappa, 1993. Cytotaxonomic studies in some south Indian species of Abutilon. Journal of Cytology and Genetics 28: 71–76.
• Raffauf, R.F., 1996. Plant alkaloids: a guide to their discovery and distribution. Food Products Press, New York, United States. 279 pp.
• SEPASAL, 2009. Abutilon hirtum. [Internet] Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. http://www.kew.org/ ceb/sepasal/. Accessed November 2009.
• Thulin, M., 1999. Malvaceae. In: Thulin, M. (Editor). Flora of Somalia. Volume 2. Angiospermae (Tiliaceae-Apiaceae). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. pp. 40–83.
• Vollesen, K., 1995. Malvaceae. In: Edwards, S., Mesfin Tadesse & Hedberg, I. (Editors). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Volume 2, part 2. Canellaceae to Euphorbiaceae. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Department of Systematic Botany, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. pp. 190–256.
 show more data (9)comments (0) 
 
Sources of illustration  
 show more data (2)comments (0) 
 
Author(s)  
 
E.G. Achigan Dako
PROTA Network Office Africa, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya


Editors  
 
M. Brink
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
E.G. Achigan Dako
PROTA Network Office Africa, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Photo editor  
 
G.H. Schmelzer
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
Correct citation of this article  
 Achigan-Dako, E.G., 2010. Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Brink, M. & Achigan-Dako, E.G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed .



Additional references  
Citation in books
 There are 300 book citations related to Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. Click on "show more" to view them.
 show more datacomments (0) 
 
Citation in web searches
 There are 188 citation in web searches related to Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. Click on "show more" to view them.
 show more datacomments (0) 
 
Citation in scholarly articles
 There are 58 citation in scholarly articles related to Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. Click on "show more" to view them.
 show more datacomments (0) 
 
Citation in Afrirefs
 There are 3 citations in Afrirefs related to Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. Click on "show more" to view them.
 show more datacomments (0) 
 

Loading
General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Cereals and pulses
Ornamental use
Forage/feed use
Fruit use
Medicinal use
Fibre use
Food security



Abutilon hirtum
Abutilon hirtum


show more thumbnails



Creative Commons License
All texts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands License
This license does not include the illustrations (Maps,drawings,pictures); these remain all under copyright.