What is the difference between datura flowers and okra? Let me teach you a quick way to tell them apart.
Before the datura flower blooms, it is green and slender, and it looks quite like the edible okra. The whole datura plant is toxic, with the fruit and especially the seeds being the most toxic, followed by the young leaves, and the dried leaves are less toxic than the fresh leaves. So, what is the difference between datura flowers and okra?
1. Different family and genus
Datura and okra are very similar, and both have unique ornamental value, but they are not the same plant. Datura is a plant of the genus Datura in the Solanaceae family, while okra is of the genus Abelmoschus in the Malvaceae family. Both can be grown as potted plants, and both can be eaten in moderation.
2. Differences in form
The leaves of datura are ovate to broadly ovate, with irregular wavy shallow lobes on the upper part of the leaf, and the tip gradually grows to a point, and the leaves are relatively glossy. The leaves of okra have linear stipules and are relatively larger, and the leaves have coarse hairs and also have palmate lobes around the edges.
3. Differences in flowers
In fact, there are many differences between datura and okra, and their flowering periods are also very different. Under normal care, datura generally blooms from June to October, and the flowers it produces are funnel-shaped and a mix of green and white. Okra generally blooms from May to September, and the flowers it produces are bell-shaped and yellow.
4. Different medicinal value
Usually, both have certain medicinal value, but when datura is in bloom, the flowers can be picked and dried for medicinal use, and can have medicinal value such as relieving asthma and stopping cough, and numbing and relieving pain. When okra bears fruit after flowering, the fruit can be picked and eaten in moderation, and can have medicinal value such as soothing the throat and promoting urination, and regulating menstruation and relieving pain.
Although datura flowers and okra are somewhat similar, they are very easy to tell apart.