Melochia corchorifolia
English: Chocolateweed.
Arabic: Mulukhiyah, means mallow Corchorus; Molokheya.
Genus: 54 species.
Clades: Sterculiaceae.
Region: Malaysia, Pacific Islands, Americas, Southeastern United States, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Australia.
Habitat: tropical and subtropical; wastelands, open areas, riversides, lakesides, highways; sunny or dimly shaded humid regions.
Ecology: weedy and invasive, in cotton, soybean, rice plantations; host of fungal diseases, Rhizoctonia solani.
Content: triterpenes, friedelin, friedelinol and β-amyrin; flavonol glycosides, hibifolin, triflin and melocorin; aliphatic compounds; flavonoids, vitexin, robunin; β-D-sitosterol, β-D-glucoside; alkaloids; high crude amount of protein; small amounts of lipids; potassium, calcium, magnesium.
Use: leaves as a potherb; cooked leaves for a popular, slimy side-dish; stems for tying bundles, construction of roofs of houses; source of very strong fibre for dillybags.
Botany
Herb; annual or perennial; 1 to 2 m tall.
Leaves: simple; ovate; petioles 5 cm long, with linear stipules of 6 mm long; veins from 7 cm long to 5 cm long; spiral; margins very intensely serrated; narrow to broad to the tip; 7 cm, long, 5 cm wide.
Stem: with line of stellate hairs.
Inflorescence: crowded cymes; with linear bracts.
Flowers: purple; 5 green sepals; purple; 5 petals, 5 to 7 mm long; bisexual, regular; calyx campanulate of 3 mm long; short-teethed; petals of 8 mm long, white with yellow base inside; stamens are fused close to the top of the filaments; superior ovary; 5 styles joint at the base; flowering occurs from July to October.
Fruit: a 5-valved capsule; 5 mm in diameter, with few seeda, approximately 1 seed per locule.
Seeds: wrinkled; brown; ± 2 to 3 mm long.