Morphological properties of flower and fruit in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Twenty okra cultivars from Japan and ten okra accessions from Thailand were cultivated to compare the morphological properties of flowers and fruits. Flower organs of all cultivars and accessions were quite similar in appearance at anthesis. The slender fruits with pentagon or round shaped were observed. All cultivars and accessions in this study belonged to Abelmoschus esculentus. Twenty cultivars and ten accessions were divided into 3 clusters. Cluster I consisted of 'Benny', 'Better Five', 'Blue Sky', 'Early Five', 'Emerald', 'Green Etude', 'Green Five', Green Rocket', 'Green Star', 'Gulliver', 'Holiday', 'Miyako Gokaku', 'Natsu no Megumi', 'Peak Five', 'Pentagon', 'Star Debut', 'Star Light', 'Suisei Gokaku", HE 015, HE 045, HE 047, HE 047-1 and HE 050-1. Cluster II was composed of 'Blue Sky Z', 'Clemson Spineless', HE 006 and HE 050. Cluster III was comprised of HE 022, HE 025 and HE 035. (Accepted September 10, 2004) Key words : cluster analysis, correlation. Introduction Okra belongs to the family Malvaceae. Cultivated okra and related wild species were originally grouped in the genus Hibiscus, section Abelmoschus. Based on the calyx character, the fusion among calyx, petal and stamen at the basal part and the abscission of these floral organs after anthesis, Abelmoschus was then distinguished and was recognized as the new genus (Van Borssum Waalkes, 1966; Bates, 1968). The origin of Okra is rather obscure (Yamaguchi, 1983). However, Van Borssum Waalkes (1966), Siemonsma (1982), Bisht et al. (1995) and Duzyaman (1997) reported that the centers of diversity of Abelmoschus were West Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The genus Abelmoschus is comprised of nine species (Duzyaman, 1997). Only A. esculentus and A. caillei (the second edible Okra species) are cultivated as fresh fruits (Hamon and Hamon, 1991; Duzyaman, 1997). The appearances of fruits such as shape, size and color are important characters for horticultural products. The variation of flower and fruit characters among these cultivators and accessions will be useful for further study not only for horticultural crop improvement but also for year-round culture of Okra. In this study, morphological properties of flowers and fruits in twenty cultivators from Japan and ten accessions from Thailand were investigated.