Herb: Trailing Abutilon


Latin name: Abutilon megapotamicum


Synonyms: Abutilon vexillarium


Family: Malvaceae (Mallow Family)



Edible parts of Trailing Abutilon:

Flowers - cooked. Used as a vegetable. A pleasant sweet flavour, we like to eat them raw. The flowers produce nectar all the time they are open so, assuming the plant is grown indoors and is not visited by pollinating insects, the sweetness increases the longer the flower is open.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Shrub

Height:
2 m
(6 1/2 foot)

Flowering:
April to
September

Habitat of the herb:

Widely cultivated in the Tropics and not known in a truly wild situation.

Propagation of Trailing Abutilon:

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. Germination should take place within a few weeks. Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots. Grow them on for at least the first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of young shoots, June in a frame. Grow on in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant out in spring after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Grow on in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant out in spring after the last expected frosts.

Cultivation of the herb:

Widely cultivated in the Tropics and not known in a truly wild situation.

Medicinal use of Trailing Abutilon:

None known

Known hazards of Abutilon megapotamicum:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.