Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet

Herbs subshrublike, annual or perennial, erect, many branched, 1-2.5 m, entire plant gray puberulent. Stipules subulate, 1-2 mm, curved outward; petiole 2-4 cm, gray puberulent and sparsely hairy, hairs silklike, ca. 1 mm; leaf blade ovate-orbicular or nearly orbicular, 3-9 × 2.5-7 cm, densely gray stellate puberulent, base cordate, margin irregularly serrate, apex acute or acuminate. Flowers solitary, axillary, 2-2.5 cm in diam. Pedicel ca. 4 cm, articulate near apex, gray stellate puberulent. Calyx green, disk-shaped, 6-10 mm in diam., densely gray puberulent, lobes 5, broadly ovate, apex acute. Corolla uniformly yellow; petals 7-8 mm. Staminal column stellate scabrous. Ovary 15-20-loculed. Fruit black, flat topped, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; mericarps 15-20, apex acute, slightly awned, long stellate scabrous. Seeds reniform, sparsely stellate. Fl. Jul-Oct.

It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It suits warm tropical places. It requires well drained soil and does best in a sunny position. It can grow in arid places. It occurs in Asia and Australia. In China it grows below 600 m in S China. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

The roasted seeds are eaten in Nepal. They are also used for flour. The seeds are a source of an edible oil. The leaves and flowers are cooked and eaten. The flowers are also eaten raw. They are also fried.

It can be grown from seed or cuttings. It can be pruned.