velvetleaf
Abutilon theophrasti
The button-like seed pods were historically used by early American colonists as decorative molds for stamping butter.
- Scientific name
- Abutilon theophrasti
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Malvales › Malvaceae › Abutilon
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Cultivated fields, gardens, roadsides, vacant lots, and disturbed soils.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- Range
- North America, Europe, Asia, Mediterranean region
- Size
- 1 to 2.5 meters (3 to 8 feet) tall
- Lifespan
- 1 year (Annual)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Herbicides, agricultural tilling, and biological control insects like the velvetleaf seed beetle.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. You can safely touch its incredibly soft, velvet-like leaves. However, it is a highly invasive agricultural weed; if removing it from your garden, wear gardening gloves to avoid mild skin irritation from the tiny hairs, and bag the seed pods to prevent spreading.
Abutilon theophrasti ( velvetleaf, velvetweed, Chinese jute, China jute, buttonweed, butterprint, pie-marker, or Indian mallow ) is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Asia. Its specific epithet theophrasti commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher Theophrastus.
Photo: anneheathen, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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