Musk mallow (කපුකිණිස්ස)

Musk mallow is a perennial plant, erect, the plant sometimes adopts a prostate, creeping habit. The stems become more or less woody, especially at their base. The plant usually dies back to the taproot in dry seasons, but will normally resprout when the rains return.

Flower : solitary; pedicel (51.5-)3-7.5 cm long; corolla yellow with dark purple centre. Capsule 5-8 cm long, ovoid or globose, lightly hispid.

Edible parts : Young leaves and shoots – cooked in soups also used as a vegetable.The leaves are also used to clarify sugar, Unripe seed pods – cooked as a vegetable in much the same way as okra (A. esculentus), Seed – cooked and also used as a flavouring. When fried or roasted it has a flavour similar to sesame seeds. The seed is also used as a flavouring for liqueurs or to scent coffee.

Ayurvedic usage : Fevers, Anorexia, Oral diseases, Dysentery, Excessive thirst, Coughs, Asthma, Dysuria, Gonorrhoea, Impotence

Height : 0.25-1.5 m tall

Leaves : variable in shape and size, lamina 6-22 x 3-24 cm, palmately 3-5-lobed or divided , base cordate, margin serrate or dentate; petiole 2-30 cm long; stipules 6-12 mm long

Related medicinal properties : Purifies the blood, Helps to keep heart healthy