An annual herbaceous plant, a species of the genus Abelmoschus (Abelmoschus) of the Malvaceae family, a vegetable crop. The height of the plant is from 30-40 cm (dwarf varieties) to 2 m (tall forms).
The stem is thick, woody, pubescent with sparse stiff hairs. It is branched at the base and forms from two to seven stems.
The leaves are long-stemmed, light or dark green, rather large, five- to seven-lobed, pubescent.
The flowers are single, large, bisexual, yellowish-cream in color, located in the leaf axils on short pubescent pedicels.
The fruits are multi-seeded pyramidal boxes of elongated shape, resembling green pepper pods, covered with fine hairs. In some okra varieties , the fruits reach 25 cm .