ABSTRACT
Abutilon permolle (very softly pubescent) arepa (the Taino word for a round cake of maize, typically served with
butter and surrounding a filling of meat; the application to this plant is obscure, Belize)
butter print (from the fruit being used to make impressions on the surface of butter; a name shared with A. theophrasti, a common field weed in the midwestern United States)
butter weed (Bahamas) daddy Joe (Bahamas) [coastal] Indian mallow (Florida, Caribbean) sacmizbil (sak, white, and misbil, broom, Maya, Yucatán; the related
Sida acuta is chak’misbil, red broom) velvet leaf [common] (Turks and Caicos) velvety abutilon (Bahamas, a book name) zacxiu (white herb, Maya, Yucatán)
Abutilon theophrasti was the first species of this genus that Europeans saw. These fiber plants were introduced through the Arabian trade route from Asia, and became known as Chinese jute, Chinese hemp, and Manchurian jute (Mabberley 1997). After the New World was discovered, Europeans found related species in the tropics. Probably, explorers were struck by the yellow flowers, or simply brought them back to Europe because the family (Malvaceae) was noted for producing medicinal species.
