Plants

Portia Tree or Bhendi Tree

Thespesia populnea

Name

Marathi:

भेंडी वृक्ष

Biological Classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Spermatophyta
Sub-Division:	Angiospermae
Class:	Dicotyledonae
Sub-Class:	Polypetalae
Series:	Thalamiflorae
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Sub-Family:	--
Genus:	Thespesia
Species:	populnea

Advantages

It is a roadside tree and commonly grows wild along seashores.
The juice of the fruit is used in skin diseases.
The leaves are employed as application to swollen joints.

Interesting Facts

The actual Lady Finger or Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is different from this tree, but remains placed in the same family Malvaceae.

Description

It is a small tree with broadly ovate leaves.
It bears yellow flowers which closely resemble to that of Okra flowers, in the months of October to June.
Thespesia populnea (L.) Soland. ex Correa.

Reference

Systematic Botany, R. N. Sutaria, Second Edition and Taxonomy of Angiosperms S. N. Pandey and S. P. Mishra.

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