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Abelmoschus moschatus is a soft, herbaceous trailing plant and can be found in the tropics. It grows 0.5-2.5 meters high with soft hairy stems and a long slender tap root. It has an underground tuber and dies back to this tuber in the dry season, emerging again with the first substantial rains of the wet season. Leaves alternate, rough, hairy,heart-shaped or 3-5 palmately lobed with serrated margins and linear-oblong or triangular lobes, 4-10cm x 4-9 cm.

Flowers regular, bisexual, involucral bracts 8-12, hibiscus-like, usually watermelon pink but sometimes white or cream - always with a dark center, very prolific and are borne between October and April in some places, depending on the timing of the wet season.

The fruit of A. moschatus is a hirsute capsule, 6-8 cm long, ovoid-cylindrical. Seeds are subreniform and black, held in hairy, tough but papery capsules and are musky-scented.

Ecology

Usually weedy in open and disturbed areas. In Australia, it occurs in open woodlands or grasslands, most often found on rocky hillsides but sometimes on flat lands. In Guam, it occurs in marshy locations. In Fiji, it is found from near sea level to an elevation of about 450 m as a weed naturalized in gardens, plantations, ricefields, and clearings, and also occurring along trails and on the edges of forests.

Native range

A. moschatus is native to Australia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, India and Samoa.

Tree management

A. moschatus is cultivated as pre-kharif crop in India. It is usually sown in March-April but as late as the first week of July in Central India. Seed rates of 41g/kg are optimum. Application of dried Neem leaves (500Kg/ha) at last ploughing increased oil content and quality. April sown crop start flowering in September; fruits ripen from November to January and are harvested when fully mature. Application of fertilizers improves growth of plant, and seed yields but some studies indicate that use of chemical inputs result in negative impact on oil content and quality. Harvested capsules are sun dried and seeds dehisce when the capsules burst. The oil for perfumery is extracted by steam distillation of crushed seeds. Usually weedy in open and disturbed areas. In Australia, it occur in open woodlands or grasslands, most often found on rocky hillsides but sometimes on flat lands. In Guam, it occurs in marshy locations. In Fiji, it is found from near sea level to an elevation of about 450 m as a weed naturalized in gardens, plantations, ricefields, and clearings, and also occurring along trails and on the edges of forests. Propagation may be from seeds, small tubers or stem cuttings. Seeds germinate readily but some difficulty is often experienced in getting the plant to establish in the ground. Sowing the seeds in situ in a well drained, rocky spot may be the best answer. The plant should be allowed to dry out when foliage dies off during the dry season. It is a relative of the edible Okra and tubers and foliage were a source of food for Aborigines.

Usage

The bark is processed into fibre and the root mucilage as a sizing for paper. In India, roots, leaves (rarely), and seeds of ambrette are considered valuable traditional medicines. The bitter, sweet, acrid, aromatic seeds are used as a tonic and are considered aphrodisiac, opthalmic, cardiotonic, digestive, stomachic, constipating, carminative, pectoral, diuretic, stimulant, antispasmodic, deodorant, and effective against intestinal complaints, stomatitis; and diseases of the heart, allays thirst and checks vomiting. According to Unani system of medicine seeds allay thirst, cure stomatitis, dyspepsia, urinary discharge, gonorrhea, leucoderma and itch. Roots and leaves are cures for gonorrhea. Ambrette oil obtained from seeds posses an odor similar to that of musk and its aromatic constituents have long been used in perfumery industry. Different grades of essential, or aromatic absolute, are marked in Europe as high-grade perfum.