Abutilon fruticosum

Guill. & Perr.

Texas Indian mallow

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) plantperson7654, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) John Brush, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Ron Chang (curated by Cat Chang), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ron Chang (curated by Cat Chang)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit is edible.

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in well-drained soils that can be rocky or sandy. It is often over limestone material. It grows between 275-1,800 m above sea level. It can tolerate shade. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, Asia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, USA, West Africa, Zimbabwe,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. There are prickles along the stem. The leaves are twice divided and there are 8-18 pairs of pinnae. There are up to 50 pairs of pinnules on each pinnae. The flowers are yellow. They are in large clusters at the ends of branches. The pods are flattened.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown by seeds.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Abutilon fruticosum is a widespread species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Texas Indian mallow, pelotazo, and sweet Indian mallow.

Other Information

Probably minor

Notes

There are about 100-160 Abutilon species.

Names & Synonyms

Mogoloreomoswu, Omutopiri, Otjindwapa, Wancad

Abutilon denticulatum R. Br.Abutilon kotschyi Hochst. ex Webb.Sida amaena Wall.

References (5)

East African Herbarium records, 1981,
Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org
Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 143
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 3rd May 2011]