VELVET LEAF INDIAN MALLOW AMERICAN JUTE

(Abutilon Abulilon; A. Avicennae of Gray) Mallow family



Flowers - Deep yellow, 1/2 to 3/4 in. broad, 5-parted, regular,

solitary on stout peduncles from the leaf axils. Stem: 3 to 6 ft.

high, velvety, branched. Leaves: Soft velvety, heart-shaped, the

lobes rounded, long petioled. Fruit: In a head about 1 in.

across, 12 to 15 erect hairy carpels, with spreading sharp beaks.

Preferred Habitat - Escaped from cultivation to waste sandy loam,

fields, roadsides.

Flowering Season - August-October.

Distribution - Common or frequent, except at the extreme North.



There was a time, not many years ago, when this now common and

often troublesome weed was imported from India and tenderly

cultivated in flower gardens. In the Orient it and allied species

are grown for their fiber, which is utilized for cordage and

cloth; but the equally valuable plant now running wild here has

yet to furnish American men with a profitable industry. Although

the blossom is next of kin to the veiny Chinese bell-flower, or

striped abutilon, so common in greenhouses, its appearance is

quite different.