Question

The botanical name of the vegetable, Lady’s finger is
A. Abelmoschus esculentus
B. Hibiscus esculentus
C. Both A and B
D. Hibiscus cannabinus

Answer 1

Hint: A botanical name is a formal name based on scientific nomenclature based on formal coding by concerned authorities and institutions. The botanical name is a formal name and it is accepted world-wide. It is used for identification of the particular plant or plant group. Lady’s finger is an important and popular vegetable and it is also known as okra.

Complete answer:
Lady finger or okra is a flowering plant of the Malvaceae family. The botanical name of okra or lady’s finger is Abelmoschus esculentus. The family Malvaceae is a mallow family having wildflowers, hairy stems and it generally comprises herb, shrub, and tree species. It includes plants like cotton, cacao, durian, hibiscus, okra, etc. The characteristic feature of the Malvaceae family is simple hairs of young parts of the plant; solitary inflorescence; actinomorphic flower with epicalyx; free corolla and indefinite Monadelphous stamen; syncarpous, multilocular, superior ovary.

Abelmoschus is a new name given to the Hibiscus genus. It belongs to the Malvaceae family consisting of fifteen species along with Lady’s finger (Okra). Species in the Abelmoschus genus are categorized into annual and perennial herbs and shrubs with characteristic hairs on the various parts of the plant. The flowers generally have red and pink spots on the funnel-shaped corolla. These plants alternate stipulate leaves with the petiole. The ovary is pentalocular and anthers are unilocular.

In Okra, the flowers have funnel-shaped corolla with white and yellow colour and purple spots in the centre. The green pod-like fruit of okra are consumed as vegetables. The fruit contains numerous seeds.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Additional information:
Lady finger or okra is cultivated in the tropical and warm temperate climates and it is mostly cultivated for the fibrous fruits or pods which contain round white seeds. The plant is very hardy and drought tolerant and even grows in soils with more clay content. However, they cannot tolerate frost with low temperatures. It is available in two varieties in which one is green and the other one is red in colour. But there is no such difference in the taste of the two varieties.

Note: Okra or Lady’s finger belongs to Abelmoschus genus and it’s botanical name is Abelmoschus esculentus. It is cultivated in south Asian regions including India and is used as popular vegetable food. It has hairy parts which are the characteristic feature of the Malvaceae family and Abelmoschus genus. The pods are fibrous, green with a large number of seeds.