• Family : MALVACEAE
  (Mallow Or Hibiscus Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : GURHAL FAMILY (गुड़हल फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : MALVACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Abelmoschus moschatus subsp. moschatus
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Abelmoschus moschatus Medik.
• Common name : Musk Mallow, Ambrette, Vegetable Musk, Muskseed
• Vernacular name : Mask dhana, Latakasthuri (Hindi); Kasthuri bende (Kannada); Vertilai Kasthuri, Kaattu kasthuri (Tamil); Kasthuri bende (Telugu); Banobhindi (Oria); Latakasturika (Sanskrit); Kasturi-bhendi (Marathi); Kattukasthusri, Kasthurivenda, Lathakasthuri (Malayalam)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Rocky areas in moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
• Comments / notes : Occasional deciduous forests. Seed oil is used as an adulterant for musk & perfume. Sometimes cultivated for seeds
• Flower, Fruit : July-December
• Collector(s) Name : H.O Saxena and N.K Dhal
• Collection Date : 21/11/91
• Collection Nos : 7526
• Collection Locality : Karlapar, Kalahandi
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Kurnool district
  • Karnataka : Davanagare district, Hassan district, Mysuru district, Tumakuru district, Udupi district
  • Kerala : Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Ernakulam district, Idukki district, Kottayam district, Alappuzha district, Pathanamthitta district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Maharashtra : Deciduous forests of Maharashtra
  • Odisha : Kalhandi district
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Madurai district, The Nilgiri district
• World Distribution : Indo-China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji Islands, Pacific Islands
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Saldanha, 1984; Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 – Davanagere; N.P. Sing & S. Karthikeyan 2000. Flora of Maharastra vol 1. Botanical survey of India, Govt. India.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Abelmoschus moschatus. Downloaded on 28 January 2025.

Botanical Description

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