Lady's fingers

Naming

The name "okra" is most often used in the United States, with a variant pronunciation, English Caribbean "okro", used primarily around the Philippines. The word "okra" is of West African origin and is cognate with ' in the Igbo language spoken in Nigeria. Okra is often known as "lady's fingers" outside of the United States. In various Bantu languages, okra is called "kingombo" or a variant thereof, and this is the origin of its name in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, and also possibly of the name "gumbo", used in parts of the United States and English-speaking Caribbean for either the vegetable or a stew based on it. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and often in the United Kingdom, it is called by its Hindi/Urdu name, "bhindi" or "bhendi" or "bendai".

Distribution

Okra is an allopolyploid of uncertain parentage. Truly wild, as opposed to naturalised, populations, are not definitely known, and the species may be a cultigen.

The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins. Supporters of a South Asian origin point to the presence of its proposed parents in that region. Supporters of a West African origin point to the greater diversity of okra in that region; however, confusion between okra and "A. caillei" casts doubt on those analyses.