File:The field and garden vegetables of America (Page 615) (6002099787).jpg

OKRA, OR GUMBO.
615
The ripe seeds, roasted and ground, furnish a palatable
substitute for coffee.
Varieties. —
Buist's Dwarf Okra. Count. Gent.
A variety recently introduced by Mr. Robert Buist, of
Philadelphia. Height two feet ; being about half that of the
old variety. Its superiority consists in its greater productive-
ness, and the little space required for its development ; while
the fruit is of larger size and superior quality. It is said to
produce pods at every joint.
Dwarf Okra.
Stem two feet and a half high, sometimes branched at the
top, but generally undivided ; leaves large, and, as in all
varieties, five-lobed ; flowers yellow, purple at the centre ;
pods erect, obtusely pointed,
nearly as large in diameter
as those of the Giant, but
generally about five inches in
length.
It is the earliest of the
Okras, and the best variety
for cultivation in the Nor-
thern and Eastern States.
Between this and the Tall/
or Giant, there are numerous
sub-varieties ; the result both
of cultivation and climate.
The Tall sorts become dwarf-
ish and earlier if long cultivated at the North : and the
Dwarfs, on the contrary, increase in height, and grow later,
if long grown in tropical climates.