Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Corchorus, genus of some 40–100 species of flowering plants of the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae). The bark of C. capsularis and to a lesser extent that of C. olitorius constitute the chief source of the fibre jute, and these species are much cultivated in India and Bangladesh. The leaves and young shoots are eaten as a vegetable in Europe and as a potherb in West Africa. The seeds, however, are poisonous.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.